Class J3L_M 



TO THE 



REV. WILLIAM CARUS M.A., 

FELLOW AND SENIOR DEAN OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 

4-c. 4-c. 



Rev. and Dear Sir, 

The completion of this work, though of 
a very unpretending character, affords me, on 
many grounds, a pleasure of no common order. 
Your permission that it should be dedicated to 
you, gives me a public opportunity of thanking 
you for many instances of kindness; and chief 
among them, that of having opened to me many 
important views of Divine Truth. If it seem 
strange that I should express my sense of this by 
offering you a book which treats of the darkness of 
the Pagan world, I would reply, that the know- 
ledge of the truth can enable us to extract deep 



VI DEDICATION. 

and lasting benefit from the errors of the past, and 
that a work of this nature, if dedicated at all, 
should be dedicated to an accomplished as well as 
a profound scholar. It allows me the gratification 
of saying, with how much respect, I remain, 

Reverend and dear Sir, 

Very faithfully yours, 

Henry Christmas. 



PREFACE. 



There are few subjects which have either deserved 
or obtained so much attention as Mythology. The 
most eminent scholars, in all ages, have made it 
their study, and many profound and voluminous 
works have been the result. Of these some are 
devoted to the consideration of a single system ; 
and others are too scarce, and too expensive, 
to be within the reach of ordinary readers. The 
work of Creuzer, which, in spite of its defects, 
is by far the most valuable modern work on Mytho- 
logy, is not translated, and besides occupies eight 
volumes. 

The mythology of Greece has been almost exclu- 
sively studied ; and this, though neither the most 
important, nor the most interesting. The systems 
of the East, and of the North, of Egypt, and of 
China, would have illustrated the Greek and Roman 
fables, have cleared up their difficulties, and ex- 
plained their allegories, if they did no more. But 
the truth is, that where these are studied, the 
theogony of the Greeks sinks into its proper place, 
and is considered but as a ramification of the great 
stream of fable. The chief end of studying mytho- 
logy, should be, not to apply our knowledge merely 
to the solution of difficult passages in classical 
poetry, but to the moral and mental history of 



viii 



PREFACE. 



mankind. This object can only be accomplished 
by taking a general view of the subject, by exami- 
ning all systems, by tracing their resemblances and 
their differences, by investigating the mode of their 
propagation, and the identity of their origin. This 
has been the object, which, as far as the limits of a 
small volume will allow, has been aimed at in the 
following pages. To what extent it has been 
obtained, is for the public to judge. Some extracts 
will be found from Fabers works, which, having 
been made some time ago, and the author no longer 
having the writings of that eminent scholar at 
hand, cannot be marked by references; those so 
circumstanced are few and small, and this oppor- 
tunity is taken to notice them. 

The whole section on Chaldean and Phoenician 
Mythology (Section III.) has been furnished by 
Mr. C. P. Harris, of Manchester, the greater part 
of whose life has been devoted to philological, and 
particularly oriental research. While acknow- 
ledging this, and many other obligations to that 
gentleman, the author congratulates himself on the 
great additional value thus conferred on his work. 

It will be at once perceived that this volume 
is not intended to supersede any treatise on the 
Greek and Roman Mythology, but rather to sup- 
ply a want that has long been felt, — to introduce, 
in fact, a more general and extensive knowledge of 
the interesting subject of Universal Mythology. 



Colne, Lancashire. 
November, 1837. 



CONTENTS. 



Section I. — EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 

Chap. Page 

I. Introductory Chapter 1 

II. Of Phta, and his Names or Attributes . 6 

III. Of the Second Stage of the Egyptian Religion — Of 

Osiris and Isis . . . . 8 

IV. Of the Third Stage of Egyptian Mythology, the 

Worship of Consecrated Animals . . 15 
V. Of the Animal Divinities of Egypt, and the Fourth 

Stage of Public Religion in that Country . 24 
VI. Of Isis, and the Egyptian Deities typical of the 

Moon .... 27 
VII. Of the Worship of the Nile, and of the Names under 

which it was revered 33 
VIII. Of Typhon, his Wife Nephthys, and his Concubine 

Aso . . . \ • .37 

IX. Of Thoth, or Hermes Trismegistus . . 41 
X. Of the Cosmogony, and the Moral Philosophy of the 

Ancient Egyptians . . .48 

Section II.— HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 

I. Introductory Chapter .... 54 

II. Of the Hindoo Triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva 57 

III. Of the Sactis, or Pervading Energies of the Gods 65 

IV. Of Celestial Spirits, and of Demons . .71 
V. Of Ganesa, and the other Children of Mahadeva ; 

and of Indra .... 77 

VI. Of the Genii or Demigods subordinate to Indra . 84 

VII. Of the Avatars, or Incarnations of Vishnu . 90 

VIII. Of the Avatars, continued ... 97 
IX. Of the Effects of the Hindoo Religion and Mythology 101 



X 



// / M 

CONTENTS. 



Section III. — MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHALDJEANS 
OR BABYLONIANS, SYRIANS, PHOENICIANS, 



CANAANITES AND PERSIANS. 
Chap. Page 
I. Of Chaldsean or Babylonish Mythology . .105 
II. Of the Assyrian, Armenian, and Syrian Mythology 116 

III. Of the Phoenician Mythology . . 122 

IV. Of the Persian Mythology . . .135 



Section IV.— GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 

I. Introduction .... 
II. Of the Theogony and Chief Gods of the Greeks 

III. Of the subordinate Deities of Olympus 

IV. Of the Goddesses of Olympus 
V. Minor Deities • 

VI. Of Heaven and Hell .... 
VII. Heroes ..... 
VIII. Heroic Expeditions .... 

Section V.— ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 

I. Introductory Chapter . . . .201 

II. Of Oracles and Omens ... 207 

Section VI.— BUDHUISM. 

I. Introduction . . . . .214 

II. Introduction, continued . . . 217 

III. Of Budhuism among the Burmese and Chinese . 222 

IV. Of the Priests and Temples of the Budhuists 225 
V. Of the Traditions and Festivals of the Budhuists 229 

VI. Of the Jaiuas, Shikhs, and Worshippers of the Lama 232 

Section VII.— CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



I. Introductory Chapter .... 236 
II. Of the Religious Sects of the Chinese; and first, of 

Confucius .... 239 

III. Of the Sect of Lao Kung . . . 243 



. 147 

154 
. 161 

169 
. 174 

181 
. 187 

195 



CONTENTS. 



xi 



Chap. Page 

IV. Of the Sect of Fuh, or Budhuism . . 247 
V. Of the Gods of the Chinese . . .251 

VI. Of the Spirit and Practice ef the Chinese Religion 253 

Section VIII.— MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 

I. Introductory Chapter .... 258 

II. Of the Mexican Gods ... 262 

III. Of the Festivals and Sacrifices of the Gods . 267 

IV. Of the Mexican belief in the Immortality of the Soul 

and in Heaven .... 272 

V. Of the Traditions of the Mexicans . . 274 



Section IX. — NORTHERN AND ANCIENT ENGLISH 
MYTHOLOGY. 

I. Of the Northern Mythology and its Origin ; and of 

theEdda . . . . .278 

II. Of the Supreme Being, of the Giants, and of the 

Cieation of the Gods ... 280 

III. Of the Creation of the World, and of Man . 282 

IV. Of Heaven and Hell . . . 285 
V. Of the Gods; and first, of Odin . . 288 

VI. Of Thor and Balder ... 291 

VII. Of the other Gods . . . .293 

VIII. Of Loke and his Children ... 295 
IX. Of the Horse and Ships of the Gods . . 299 

X. Of Enchantments and Illusions . . 300 

XI. Of the Twilight of the Gods, and the sequel of the 

General Conflagration . . . 304 

XII. Of the Peculiarities of the Saxon Worship . 307 
XIII. Of the Effects of the Religion of Odin on the Minds 

of its Votaries . . . .310 

Section X.— MOHAMMEDANISM. 

I. Of the Birth and Education of Mohammed . 316 
II. Of the Political Designs and Pretended Mission of 

Mohammed . 322 



xii CONTENTS. 

Chap. Page 

III. Of the Success of Mohammed, and his Reign 327 

IV. Of the Conquests and Death of Mohammed . 333 
V. Of the Arabian Religion before Mohammed 339 

VI. Of the Koran .... 344 

VII. Of Death, the Resurrection, and the Judgment . 350 

VIII. Of Heaven and Hell ... 355 

IX. Of the Mesra, or Night Journey to Heaven . 360 

X. Of the Pilgrimage to Mecca . . 368 



XI. Of Traditions preserved among the Mohammedans 373 
XII. Of the Institutions of Islam ; their Spirit and Effect 379 

Section XI.— THE TALMUD, AND THE TRADITIONS 
OF THE JEWS. 

I. Antediluvian Traditions . . . 385 

II. Traditions concerning Moses . . 390 

III. Traditions of Abraham and other Patriarchs . 394 

IV. Traditions of Solomon ... 398 
V. Of the State after Death . . .402 

VI. Of the Rabbinical Heaven . . . 406 

Section XII. —THE CONNEXION AND COMMON 
ORIGIN OF ALL SYSTEMS OF FALSE 
WORSHIP. 

I. Introductory Chapter . . . .411 

II. Of Cosmogony .... 416 

III. Of Cosmogony, continued . . . 422 

IV. Of the Traditions respecting the Fall of Man 427 
V. Of the Traditions concerning the Deluge . . 432 

VI. Of the Traditions concerning Noah and his Sons 441 

VII. Of the Fates, Fatalism, and Stoicism . . 448 

VIII. On the Worship of the Serpent . . 455 

IX. The Worship of the Sun . . .461 

X. Historical Coincidences . . . 467 

XI. Miscellaneous Coincidences . . . 473 

XII. Conclusion. ..... 481 



UNIVERSAL MYTHOLOGY. 



Section I. 
EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

One glance at the physical constitution of Egypt will 
lead us to expect that the moral phenomena of such 
a country must be interesting: the research amply 
justifies the expectation, and repays the labour. At 
the time when the earliest books with which we are 
acquainted were written, the Land of the Pharaohs had 
been many ages a mighty and highly-civilized empire ; 
since that period it has passed through many political, 
and many moral revolutions : has been alternately the 
first of the nations, and the last ; the wisest, and the 
most ignorant ; the most virtuous, and the most de- 
praved. Yet, in whatever light Egypt be regarded, 
the remote antiquity into which its history extends, 
the character of mystery and romance which invests 
many portions of that history, and the fact that that 
country has been the cradle not only of art, but also 
of philosophy, make Egypt ever an interesting object 
for contemplation. 

The earliest notices we have on this subject are, of 
course, to be found in the inspired books of scripture ; 
and though we find therein many testimonies as to the 
prosperity and power of that country, we have no light 

B 



2 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



thrown upon the system of religion prevailing therein. 
That Moses was learned in " all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians" we are told ; the attainments of Moses 
lead us to think highly of the people among whom he 
was educated, and the glances which we ohtain of 
Egyptian policy, in the course of the sacred writings, 
are calculated to impress us with as favourable an idea 
of their political wisdom. The remains of their works 
which have reached our time are of so stupendous an 
order, as to excite unqualified wonder; and their 
wealth, when their empire was flourishing, seems to 
have defied calculation. The philosophy, therefore, of 
a people in whose wisdom Moses was learned, and 
among whom the intellectual Greeks obtained their 
systems, cannot be otherwise than highly interesting. 
We are naturally inclined to expect much, and to look 
with reverence upon that which we find. There are 
causes, however, which render it difficult to gratify this 
curiosity with certainty, and, in many points, impos- 
sible to gratify it at all. 

These causes are, first, the great unwillingness which 
the ancient Egyptian priests exhibited to spread their 
knowledge beyond the precincts of their own temples, 
which caused them to invent a system of hieroglyphics 
bearing a double or triple signification, in which 
hieroglyphics they wrote the doctrines of their philo- 
sophy, and the mysteries of their religion. The deci- 
phering of these hieroglyphics has been attempted in 
all ages by the most learned men, but, to the present 
time, without much success. Dr. Young seems to 
have done more than ever has yet been done, and had 
every reason to be satisfied with the result. If the 
efforts of his followers are crowned with complete suc- 
cess, the Egyptian antiquities will be rescued from the 
uncertainty that has hitherto invested them. 

In investigating such subjects as the present, 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



3 



we must remember the distinction between my- 
thology, religion, and philosophy, — a distinction not 
always borne in mind, and which, whenever over- 
looked, causes utter confusion, mingling the doc- 
trines of religion, and the allegorized facts of philo- 
sophy, with the inventions of poetry, and out of the 
mixture attempting to make a regular system. The 
Egyptian priests, unwilling as they were to communi- 
cate even to foreign philosophers their own learning, 
were not likely to enlighten, on such subjects, the 
people around them. There were many secrets in their 
possession which they would divulge to no one, as it 
appears from the testimony of Herodotus, and others. 
There was very little they allowed to become common 
property : they spoke in parables to the multitude, and 
those parables were understood only by the initiated. 
It becomes necessary, therefore, when we examine the 
mythology of a people like this, to scrutinise the mass 
of fable lying before us, and ascertain what parts ex- 
hibit allegories of philosophy, what parts of history, 
what parts of religion, and what parts are merely the 
invention of poets. The best mode of doing this will 
be to compare the systems of others obtained from that 
which we study, with the original, and to notice the 
points in which they agree, and those in which they 
differ : it will generally be found that they coincide in 
the foundations, but that the superstructure is different, 
and the differences are usually in those fables which, 
being the invention of poetry, are adapted only to the 
country in which, and the people among whom, they 
took their rise. Continuing the comparison of these 
systems, we shall be able to distinguish between the 
remaining parts, and to see what allegories contain 
religious doctrine, and what serve to illustrate the 
philosophy of the times. 

The origin of the Egyptian mythology will be treated 

B 2 



4 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



of when we come to investigate the origin of mytho- 
logy generally. The early state of it is enveloped in 
great obscurity ; the appearance under which it pre - 
sents itself to us is so crowded with absurdities, and 
the reputation of its believers so high for wisdom, that 
we at once perceive how allegorical its general cha- 
racter must be ; — the secret writing, the mystery ob- 
served by the priesthood, confirm this, and the natural 
history of the country affords us a clue to a vast 
number of the allegories alluded to. 

Treating the Egyptian mythology in this light, and 
bearing in mind the distinction we have already noticed, 
it will appear that the groundwork of their theology 
was a belief in one Gocl, counteracted, however, in 
many of his operations by a personified principle of 
evil. The rest seems to be mere figure, sometimes 
astronomical, sometimes historical, sometimes meta- 
physical. The Supreme Being appears to have been 
anciently recognised under the name Phtah ; the sun 
was his symbol, and with that luminary the Deity 
himself is made often to correspond. There appears, 
however, a deeper meaning than this, for we are told 
by the Greeks that Phtah was the element of fire, 
pervading all things, and causing by its insensible or 
sensible operation all visible changes. Now, of this 
element (fire, or caloric,) the sun is an active agent, 
and is, of course, very likely to be confounded with it. 
But the symbol, in popular worship, is ever apt to be 
-taken instead of the thing signified ; and when the 
lofty symbol gives place to a lower, popular opinion 
still goes with it, till, at last, we can hardly be sur- 
prised to find leeks and onions, dogs and crocodiles, 
among the ranks of divinities. 

Tin; earliest personification which appears, and 
begins the work of polytheism, is called Athor. This 
divinity was the goddess Night, — not that night which 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



5 



results from the diurnal revolution of the earth, but 
the thick darkness spread over the universe previous 
to creation. This night, animated by the breath of 
Phtah, was the origin of all things, and was w r hat 
Damascius meant, w r hen, speaking of the Egyptian 
mythology, he said, " They established as the first prin- 
ciple that darkness which, the human mind is unable 
to comprehend, and which they celebrate three times 
in their sacred hymns." It was not until some time 
after the establishment of this goddess that allegory 
began to crowd upon the system, but it appeared at 
last ; and this divinity, the mother of all, the origin of 
every thing that is, could not be left untouched. Ad- 
ventures were soon found, and fitted to the personified 
night, and the priests, aware that the minds of the 
unenlightened required sensible objects, proposed to 
their veneration the moon. It seems that when, at 
first, this was done, it was only as a type of night — an 
emblem of the deity — who, out of darkness, had formed 
the visible creation; but with whatever view it was 
done, the effect w T as, that the image superseded the 
deity, the people addressed their prayers, and raised 
their temples, to the moon. 

The next step w r as, when the physical circumstances 
of the night were made into fabulous adventures, and 
the name Athor was bestowed on that period of the 
year when the sun, having passed the equator, remains 
in the southern hemisphere, the days are short, and 
the night is long. Plutarch, in his treatise Of Isis 
and Osiris, remarks, " In the month of Athyr the 
Egyptians say that Osiris (the sun) is dead : then the 
nights become longer, the darkness increases, and the 
force of the light diminishes. The priests on this 
occasion perform mournful ceremonies : they expose to 
the people a gilded ox covered with a black veil, in 
token of the grief of the goddess Isis ; for in Egypt the 



6 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



ox is the symbol of Osiris, and of the earth." The 
unity of this fable with the cosmogony of other people, 
we shall have, by-ancl-by, occasion to notice. But 
though the goddess Athor might be as purely embla- 
matical as figures of vice and virtue in the present day, 
the people were far from taking her existence in such 
a point of view. Temples were built and cities founded 
in her honour, and the name Athar-beki, the city of 
Athor, occurs three times on the map of ancient Egypt. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF PHTA AND HIS NAMES, OR ATTRIBUTES. 

Ex nihilO) nihil Jit : certainly out of darkness could 
not come light, without some cause ; but out of dark- 
ness did the Eternal mind draw the universe, and 
place every part thereof in that beautiful order which 
we behold. To this presiding spirit was given the 
name Phta, to whose being no commencement was 
assigned, and no termination expected. Manethon, 
speaking of the dynasties by which Egypt was suc- 
cessively governed, says that Phta was the first king, 
and after him reigned the sun, by which we are merely 
to understand that Phta was lord and ruler before all 
time. It was, however, literally understood by the 
people generally, and the prayer pronounced by the 
priests, at the death of each individual, tended not a 
little to confirm their opinion. This prayer ran thus : 
— "0 sun, and ye other gods who bestow life on 
man, receive me : restore me to the eternal gods, that 
I may dwell with them." — (Porphyry, lib. iv.) The 
l ather of Spirits, as Phta was called, created by an 
emanation from his own essence every intelligence, so 



OF PHTA AND HIS NAMES. 



7 



that the soul of man had been, in the belief of the 
Egyptians, a part of the deity, and should be such 
again after death. That this mighty and invisible 
spirit, the Creator and disposer of all things, was only 
worshipped by the priests, is very evident from the 
fact that, at Memphis only was there a temple raised 
to his honour, and even then the people in general had 
not a correct idea of what kind of deity he was; for 
Suidas says, "the inhabitants of Memphis adored 
Yulcan, under the name of Phta/' The attributes of 
the deity were then personified, and two in particular 
must be mentioned; his wisdom was figured forth 
under the name of a goddess called Neith, and his 
goodness under that of a god, Cneph. In fact, Phta, 
Phtah, or Phtha, — for it is spelt all ways, — appears to 
have been himself not so much the Supreme Being, as 
a personification of his power, and hence is really the 
same as Neith and Cneph ; nor must the difference of 
sex be a drawback, since the Egyptians, pursuing their 
allegory, described the creating power of the deity as 
possessing two sexes: and the beetle was considered 
so sacred among the ancient Egyptians, because they 
deemed that insect an hermaphrodite, and so a repre- 
sentative of Phtah. 

The Greeks seem to have considered Neith the same 
with their Minerva, and give us an inscription on the 
gate of her temple : "I am that which is, which shall 
be, which has been : no mortal has lifted up my veil/' 
Now, this is attributed also to Isis, and we shall see 
reason, by-and-by, to suppose Neith and Isis the same, 
yet, singularly enough, we find Neith now a god, now 
a goddess. Thus much is certain, that in whatever 
light Neith be taken, Neith and Phta may be shown 
to be one divinity. The same may be observed of 
Cneph, by which name was worshipped the goodness 
of God. The emblem of Cneph was a particular kind 



8 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



of serpent, called after him, and not venomous; this 
serpent also revered, as itself a kind of divinity, 
and not unfrequently denominated Good Genius. The 
worship of these attributes of the Deity was too 
recondite to be popular, and accordingly it gradually 
disappeared. We have seen a temple to Phta : there 
was one in the Saitic prefecture, dedicated to Neith, 
and one in the isle of Elephantis to Cneph ; and 
further than this we hear of none. The worship of 
symbols soon became general ; the sun was regarded 
by the people as the chief god : the objects of 
religious worship were greatly multiplied, and for ages 
prior to Herodotus the whole land was sunk in gross 
idolatry. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE SECOND STAGE OF THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION 

OF OSIRIS AND ISIS. 

When Diodorus Siculus wished to give, in a few 
words, an outline of Egyptian worship, he says, " Con- 
templating the arch of heaven raised above their 
heads, and admiring the marvellous order which 
reigned in the universe, they regarded the sun and 
the moon as eternal gods, and worshipped them with 
a particular worship." We have already seen the sun 
first the emblem, then the son of the Supreme Being ; 
once established as an existing god, it became neces- 
sary to make a type of him. This was soon done, and 
the type deified as before. The sun and the moon 
were culled the king and queen of heaven, and by the 
people worshipped, not as types or emblems of Phta, 
but as self-existing deities. The sun was called Phre, 



OF OSIRIS AND ISIS. 



9 



and it was a daughter of one of his high priests to 
whom Joseph the patriarch was married. The ele- 
ments, day and night, the sun and moon, the earth and 
the sea, — were all severally personified and invested 
with the attributes of divinity ; hut the vulgar only 
deemed them gods : the initiated knew that they 
existed as such only allegorically ; such persons wor- 
shipped only the power that made and preserved all 
things. 

But to return to Phre, or the sun. The Egyptian 
astronomers were well acquainted with the phenomena 
respecting him. Setting forth these in the usual figu- 
rative manner, they gave him the symbolical name 
of Osiris, and the astronomical changes that affect 
the t luminary were related as adventures of the god. 
Here, then, we have a third being, or rather a third 
step in the history of the same worship, and we shall 
see the same connexion as we descend in the scale. 

We shall now attend to the fable of Osiris, pre- 
mising that the name was not in use till 320 years 
after the departure of the Israelites, previously to 
which period he had been called Phre. Plutarch, in 
his treatise " Of Isis and Osiris," gives a long account, 
from which we may collect that, in the beginning, 
Osiris reigned over Egypt : he ruled with great 
success, and was universally beloved ; nor did he con- 
fine to that country his benefits, but travelled over 
all the world to improve the condition of mankind. 
While absent, Isis, his wife, so governed Egypt, 
that his absence was scarcely felt. Typhon, his 
brother, who both envied and hated him, was long 
unable to dethrone Osiris ; but at last, while the latter 
was in Ethiopia, Typhon organized a conspiracy of 
seventy-two members, and, on the return of Osiris, 
managed to overpower him. Having joined, with 
his seventy-two companions, the feast which was 



10 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



being celebrated in honour of the kings return, he 
caused a box or chest to be brought in, which had 
been made exactly to fit the size of Osiris, and de- 
clared that he would give the chest to whosoever could 
get into it. The rest tried in vain, but no sooner was 
Osiris in it, than Typhon and his companions closed 
the lid, and flung the chest into the Nile. The chest 
floated down the Nile, and through the Tanitic 
branch into the Mediterranean. This was, say they, 
on the 17th day of the month Athor. No sooner was 
Osiris dead, than sorrow and wailing prevailed through- 
out Egypt. Isis, her hair shorn, clothed in black, and 
beating her breast, sought diligently for the body of 
her husband. At length she found the chest on the 
coast of Phoenicia, and brought it back to Egypt, 
where, to preserve it more securely, she concealed it 
in a wood, but the usurper finding it there, cut the 
body into fourteen pieces, and scattered them hither 
and thither. Isis had another search, in which she 
was not quite so fortunate as in the last ; she found 
thirteen pieces, the fishes of the Nile having eaten the 
other : this was replaced by sycamore wood, and the 
body was again complete. 

Temples were ultimately raised wherever a limb of 
Osiris was found, and one of surpassing magnificence 
at Philce, where the body was finally placed. The 
story has a curious episode. When Isis was seeking 
the chest, she was materially assisted by Anubis, the 
son of Osiris and Nephthys. Nephthys was the wife 
and twin-sister of Typhon, as Isis was of Osiris, and 
Anubis was the fruit rather of a mistake than an 
infidelity, he was represented with a dog's head, and 
somewhat of a dogs nature, but he was wise and good 
like his father. The search for the chest or coffin was 
long in vain, and this was owing to a singular proof of 
the divine nature of Osiris. The chest was driven by 



OF OSIRIS AND ISIS. 



11 



the waves on the coast of Phoenicia, as has been 
already mentioned, and there entangled among the 
shrubs. One of these, affected by the divine nature of 
Osiris, grew so enormously as to enclose the chest in 
its trunk, and the king Malkandros passing by, saw 
the huge trunk, ordered it to be cut down, and made 
it a pillar in his palace. Anubis, and certain conse- 
crated birds, informed Isis of this fact, who, in a 
slave's habit, went, goddess as she was, and sat down 
by the fountain before the walls of Byblos. The 
maidens of the queen found her here, and entering 
into conversation with them, she bound up their hair. 
When they went back to the palace, exquisite odours 
filled the atmosphere : then they told of the stranger 
who had bound up their tresses. The queen sent for 
the stranger, and invited her in ; and as she had a 
newly-born son, she laid him in the arms of Isis, and 
the goddess became his nurse. Isis gave him not the 
breast, but put her finger into the infant's mouth, and 
at night, when all slept, then she laid him on the 
fire, and purified him from earthly dross in the glowing 
flames. The boy grew wonderfully, but the queen 
watched one night, and saw the ordeal : — she shrieked 
aloud. — Isis appeared in her own celestial shape, amidst 
thunder and lightning, so terribly beautiful, that 
Maneros, the eldest son of the king, perished for fear. 
She gave to the queen the child, and laid her own 
hand on the pillar wherein was the chest of Osiris : 
the sides of the pillar fell asunder, and the chest ap- 
peared; the pillar remained to the king, but the 
goddess carried off the chest, on which she gave her 
tears full course. 

The death of Osiris did not long remain unavenged, 
for though, during all this time, Typhon had been un- 
disputed monarch in Egypt, he had not slain Horus, 
the son of Osiris and Isis, who had been concealed 



12 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



from his anger in the city of Butis. Horus became 
strong, and, leaving his concealment, proclaimed war 
upon his fathers murderer, and vanquished him in a 
series of battles. The result of that war was, that 
Typhon was delivered up, bound, to Isis by Horus. 
Isis, prevailed upon by his prayers and promises, set 
him at liberty; whereupon Horus indignantly tore from 
Isis the crown, and the head and horns of an ox im- 
mediately appeared on the once lovely goddess ; this 
was the work of Hermes, or Thoth, of whom we shall, 
before long, have occasion to speak. Horus had now 
a second war to wage, in which he was again success- 
ful ; he slew Typhon, and threw him into the lake 
Sirbon. 

This will be easily perceived to be a fable of a mixed 
nature, partly astronomical, and partly historical ; it 
is, however, only with the astronomical part that we 
are at present concerned. Osiris is a type of the sun 
(and it may as well be noticed that he is represented 
as such with one eye and a sceptre), and this will 
sufficiently explain his diff using his favours all over 
the world, though his beneficence is more particularly 
experienced in Egypt. That the absence of the sun is 
compensated by the light of the moon, will explain 
the next fact, and the journeys of Osiris into other 
countries do but exhibit an allegorical picture of the 
change in the seasons. Ethiopia is to the south-west 
of Egypt, and his return from that country not unaptly 
represents the passage of the sun from the tropic of 
Capricorn towards the equator. At this period the 
south wind, here figured by Typhon, prevails, and it 
usually blows occasionally for about seventy- two days, 
which number is fixed on as that of the conspirators. 
This wind is called Typhon, or rather personified in 
him, on account of its noxious effects : were it to con- 
tinue, it would drive back the clouds which cause the 



OF OSIRIS AND ISIS. 



13 



overflowing of the river, and occasion sterility over all 
Egypt. This hot wind, during the continuance of 
which fevers and other contagious disorders prevail, is 
called in the present day Khamsin : it] seldom lasts 
more than three days successively, if it did, the country 
w r ould hecome uninhabitable. Horus, the son and 
successor of Osiris, is, like his father, the lord of day, 
and he is here said to have been brought up at the city 
of Butis, on account of the lake near it, by which 
is meant that the sun, attracting the w 7 aters, sheds 
them again in dews upon the earth. When the 
sun enters into the summer signs, his power be- 
comes manifest e The northern winds prevail, and 
the tempests from the south gradually disappear; 
but in the month of June there is not unfrequently 
a recurrence of the Khamsin, especially at the full 
moon ; and, in the fable, it is Isis . who unbinds 
Typhon, who is herself the moon. When the sun has 
passed the tropic of Cancer, the north wind again blows, 
the air becomes cool, the contagious maladies disappear, 
the clouds retire towards Abyssinia, and the Nile over- 
flows his banks. This is what is meant by the quiet 
and peaceable reign of Horus : his interference with 
Isis, by depriving her of her crown, is thus explained, 
— that a lunar eclipse occurred. The rest of this fable 
is of a historical nature, and its explanation is not 
necessary to our subject. 

A few remarks of Creuzer on the legend we have 
just given will be valuable and appropriate : he ob- 
serves that here, as in all systems, good and evil, 
blessings and curses, are personified and represented as 
enemies ; and he thinks that in this fable is repre- 
sented those revolutions by which the Shepherd Kings 
were driven out, and the people of Egypt came to the 
possession of more knowledge, more civilization, and a 
better system of religious worship. There are some 
variations which, as they may occasion confusion in 



14 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



reading works in which the Egyptian mythology is 
mentioned, we will briefly relate; — first, Diodorus 
Siculus tells us that Isis, after she had found thirteen, 
and replaced the fourteenth part of the body of Osiris, 
caused each part to be separately embalmed ; and to 
be so wrapped up as to resemble the whole person, so 
that at each of the fourteen places where one part was 
buried the priests supposed they had the whole, — as, 
indeed, Isis assured them they had, — she commanded 
them to worship Osiris as God, to choose out some 
beast which should be consecrated and honoured as 
much as he was. And, according to the same historian, 
a fruitful subject of disputes among the Egyptian 
priests in his day, was the question where Osiris was 
really buried. It must be observed that, in each diyi 
sion, the chosen animal was different, but the ox was 
everywhere sacred. Diodorus further notices that 
there was a third account of the body of Osiris ; viz., 
that Isis enclosed it in a wooden cow, and carried it 
to Busiris ; and that of all the places in which a claim 
was made for the honour of Osiris' sepulchre, Philce, 
Busiris, Abydus* in Upper Egypt, and the temple of 
Phthah, at Memphis, were the most holy. 

A fourth account of Osiris we shall see, when 
we come to treat of Apis. "We find here," says 
Creuzer, "from the circumstances of an allegorical 

* The temple of Osiris at Abydus was visited by Savary, 
who gives a very interesting description of it. He says, 
" The rudeness of the sculpture bespeaks antiquity, and art in 
its infancy. The forms, attitudes, and proportions are all bad ; 
among these various groups we perceive women suckling their 
children, and men presenting offerings to them. The tra- 
veller likewise recognises among the designs engraven on the 
marble the divinities of India. M. Chevalier, governor of 
Chandernagore, who lived thirty years in the East, examined 
this ancient monument very carefully on his return from 
Bengal, and remarked the gods Jaganaut, Ganesa, and Vishnu, 
as they are represented in the temples of Hindustan." 



OF OSIRIS AND ISIS. 



15 



lesson, through whose help it was that a noble race of 
men was raised up in Egypt from shepherds and fishers 
to a state of civilization, and to the cultivation of the 
land, and with this cultivation there was hound up a 
knowledge of indispensable truth. The earth was hal- 
lowed by the laws of religion ; and the men of the 
earth were enabled to learn, in its culture, not only 
their bodily, but their spiritual destination. Where- 
soever man dies, there is the seed-land of Osiris, the 
first cultivator, — wheresoever the mortal frame falls, his 
command is obeyed — there does he cast out the seed, 
and on the fertile earth another race springs up in the 
place of the old. The body of man suffers a change, 
as does the hull that wraps the vegetable seed ; but 
the spring of common and individual life is without 
change, and without fail." 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE THIRD STAGE OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY, THE 
WORSHIP OF CONSECRATED ANIMALS. 

In the preceding chapters we have noticed the worship 
of one God as prevailing in Egypt ; we have seen 
his attributes embodied and worshipped separately : 
we have seen emblems chosen of his power and good- 
ness — have seen those emblems in turn deified, and 
types of these newer gods successively raised to the 
rank of divinities ; but when the animals consecrated 
at the temples of Osiris were themselves regarded with 
superstitious reverence, then idolatry had, indeed, 
arrived at a pitch to which mythological fable might 
add diversity, but could not augment absurdity. The 
reasons of the choice which obtained of animals thus 
hallowed is involved in great obscurity : some are pro- 



16 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



bably connected with the nature of the beasts them- 
selves — some with astronomical allegories, and some, 
perhaps, with now lost historical facts. 

The diversity itself was enough to render almost 
every animal sacred, and a few only were of general 
account. It will not escape notice that the head of an 
ox once appeared on Isis — in fact, she was frequently 
represented with that configuration, and this circum- 
stance, alone, would suffice to render that animal sacred. 
She is said, in one fable, to have enclosed the body of 
Osiris in a wooden cow. Apis, Mnevis, and Onuphis 
were animals of peculiar sanctity, and these were 
bulls ; hence there was no part of Egypt where the ox 
tribe was looked upon otherwise than with reverence. 
The goat, the cat, and the dog, seem to have shared 
this sacred character ; and these, with some others, 
had cities set apart as peculiarly their places of 
sej)ulture. 

A few words from Herodotus will be sufficient on 
this point : — " The cats, when dead, are carried to 
sacred buildings, and after being embalmed, are buried 
in the city Bubastis. Dogs and ichneumons are buried 
wherever they happen to die. The shrew-mouse and 
the hawk are removed to Butos ; the ibis to Her- 
mopolis : bears and wolves are buried in whatever 
place they die, but not, like the dogs, in consecrated 
chests." Thus much is gathered from Herodotus, who 
enlarges upon the subject considerably. Of the animals 
we have noticed, the ox and the hawk are sacred to 
Osiris and to Horus, who is, in fact, the same — that is, 
the sun ; the name by which this divinity (Horus) 
was known in Egypt was Arueri, which, according to 
Jablonski, signifies active virtue : if this be correct, as 
there is reason to believe it is, the efficacy of the virtue 
has already been shown in its physical effects on the 
climate of Egypt, In addition to these names, the sun 



CONSECRATED ANIMALS. 



17 



was personified under those of Amoun and Dsom. In 
the latter character they set forth the changing power 
of the luminary as he rolled on in his annual course, 
and hence they represented him, now as an infant, now 
a full-grown man, then as bowed down with age ; but 
this picture, making the Deity triple in appearance, 
really added, not one, but three objects of worship to 
the already numerous idols of the vulgar. Amoun, 
whom the Greeks and Romans call Jupiter Ammon, 
merely represented the sun when in the sign of Aries, 
and commencing the vernal season ; and the closer we 
examine, the more convinced shall we be, that for each 
phenomenon of the solar course the Egyptians did not, 
as other mythologists have done, invent new adven- 
tures, and attribute them to the one solar deity, but 
they made a new personification to embody the con- 
dition of the sun under that phenomenon which was 
the object of consideration. In this view it is that we 
must contemplate the worship of Serapis, so long pre- 
valent in Egypt, but whose origin is not so easy to 
determine ; it seems, from the testimony of Pausanias, 
that the worship of Serapis was established at Memphis 
in times of remote antiquity, and that this was the 
name given to the sun during the winter solstice, 
" when, remaining long under the earth, he passes 
over, and enlightens unknown regions." These are the 
words of an ancient writer, explaining the meaning of 
his name ; he is called the king of the infernal regions, 
and in that character the philosophic emperor Julian 
calls him by the same name : he was painted a dark 
blue colour, which he also shared with Osiris. 

Harpocrates, another name given to the great lumi- 
nary at the same time, — viz., the winter solstice, — 
coincides also with Dsom, Harpocrates being the name 
ascribed to the infant in that series. He was repre- 
sented as a child with his two feet joined together so 

c 



18 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



as to form but one, by which, was typified the slowness 
of the sun at the tropic. He was seated on the open 
flower of the lotus, a most expressive symbol, for this 
flower, the magnificent nilotic lily, does not begin to 
blossom till the end of Autumn. This was the real 
meaning of the symbols, but the people were deluded 
as usual by a legend. Isis brought forth the tender 
Harpocrates, who was lame, having his legs joined 
together so that he could not walk. Filled with shame 
at this deformity, he remained in solitude, till Isis, 
affected by his desolate situation, restored him the use 
of his legs, by cutting them asunder. 

One more solar symbol we must mention here, as 
being intimately connected with that worship of animals 
which prevailed in ancient Egypt. This was Mendes, 
improperly called Pan by the Greeks, since there was 
not sufficient resemblance to justify the identification. 
Mendes was represented under the figure of a he-goat, 
that animal typifying the fruitfulness which prevailed 
in Egypt by means of the sun, and, because the most 
prolific of quadrupeds, not unaptly chosen.* The wor- 
ship of this divinity was conducted in a manner highly 
disgusting ; he was in the number of the eight chief 
divinities, and, according to Herodotus, the most 
ancient of all. In the temples with his statue mys- 
teries were celebrated in his honour, in which the 
priesthood were first initiated. In one sense only he 
has a close approximation with Pan, and still closer 
with the Baal Peor of the Syrians. 

P>ut this subject will not bear investigation : we will, 
therefore, return to the consecrated animals. The 
astrotheology into which Egyptian fables are ultimately 
resolved having taken animals as symbols, soon elevated 
those symbols in the minds of the people at large into 

* This is the reason assigned by most ancient writers on 
the subject, but it seems to have no foundation in fact. 



CONSECRATED ANIMALS. 



19 



real divinities. The signs of the zodiac were wor- 
shipped, and the constellations not in that important 
circle did not go without adoration. Various stars 
became noted as rising or setting at particular seasons, 
and serving as marks of time ; while the physical cir- 
cumstances of the animal creation gave an easy means 
of naming the stars and constellations, and thus con- 
nected natural history with the symbolical theology of 
the times. Thus, when the priests, the astronomers of 
that day, divided the heaven into regions, they natu- 
rally considered the regions of the earth ; and, accord- 
ing to some ancient writers, they named the divisions 
into which they, for the convenience of their observa- 
tions, portioned out the vault of heaven, after animals 
abounding in particular parts of the earth. But it 
was not to be expected that an arrangement like this 
should be understood by an uninstructed people. They 
viewed everything in a literal point of view, and in 
this particular it was the exact reverse of the truth. 
Instead of referring these animals to the deities in 
whose honour they were consecrated, those deities to 
the heavenly bodies, and those again to the great first 
cause of all, they left the Supreme Being out of the 
question entirely, and worshipped the heavenly bodies; 
the deities, their personifications, the sacred animals, 
and the embodied attributes of God, — all at once, and 
with the same reverence : this will account for the 
number of deities in ancient Egypt, and the paucity of 
adventures related of them. In their view the earth 
was but a mirror of the heavens, and celestial intelli- 
gences were represented by beasts, birds, fishes, gems, 
and even by rocks, metals, and plants. The harmony 
of the spheres was answered by the music of the 
temples, and the world beheld nothing that was not a 
type of something divine. 

Egypt was, remarks Creuzer, not only the land of 

C 2 



20 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



the sun, but one vast pantheon. Every region of the 
heavens has its peculiar animal, and every province 
upon earth its type and temple belonging thereto. 
The lowing of the ram in Spring, the roar of the lion, 
and the increase of venomous reptiles, during the glow 
of Summer ; the course of the gazelle or the goat after 
the rainy season, the signs of the water-bearer, and the 
fish, — not only prove that care was taken in the due 
selection of signs, but thatf they were not confined in 
their propriety to the land of Egypt. The nature of 
the animals or plants was not overlooked in their con- 
secration : in the dog was worshipped the vigilance, 
watchfulness, and sagacity of Anubis, who was the 
god of reason. In the lotus rising from the Nile was 
adored the rising sun ; in the power and occasional 
violence of the hippopotamus, and in the obstinacy of 
the ass, were seen the malignant influence of Typhon, 
and these, like Typhon himself, were worshipped 
through fear only, in a deprecatory spirit. The sceptre 
and the eye are emblems of Osiris, as well as the 
hawk, which, from its piercing sight, and swiftness of 
wing, is well chosen, and not less from its fondness for 
sunshine. The cat, as a nocturnal animal, is not an 
unapt emblem of the moon, and of Isis, by its activity 
and fecundity. The crocodile, which was supposed to 
have no tongue, w r as therefore taken as an emblem of 
the divine wisdom, which needs not speech. 

The sacred bulls, Apis, Mnevis, and Onuphis, deserve 
a particular attention among the consecrated animals. 
Of these, Apis was the chief : princes did not disdain 
to offer sacrifices to him. Alexander the Great, Ger- 
manicus, Titus, Adrian, were among the number of 
his worshippers, though, undoubtedly, it was in their 
case more from political than religious motives. Apis 
was, in fact, the same as Osiris, or rather the perpetual 
abode of Osiris soul. An animal so holy as this could 



CONSECRATED ANIMALS. 



21 



not be born like other oxen — hence the priests asserted 
that he owed his origin to celestial fire. The marks 
by which Apis was known were a white spot resem- 
bling a crescent on the right side, and a lump under 
the tongue. As soon as a bull thus marked was found, 
they built a temple to the new divinity facing the 
rising sun, where for four months he was fed with 
milk. When this term was expired, the priests re- 
paired with great pomp to his habitation, and saluted 
him by the name of Apis. The bull was then placed 
in a vessel, magnificently decorated, covered with rich 
tapestry, and resplendent with gold, and conducted 
down the Nile to Nilopolis. During all this period 
women only were permitted to salute him. After cer- 
tain ceremonies at Nilopolis, he was conducted with 
the same state to Memphis, where his inauguration was 
concluded, and he became sacred to all the world. 
An animal so distinguished as this could not but be as 
marvellous in his endowments as in his origin : accord- 
ingly every gesture was watched minutely. Pliny says, 
" Apis has two temples, called beds, which serve as an 
augury for the people, when they come to consult him ; 
if he enters into a particular one, it is a favourable 
presage, and fatal if he passes into the other. He 
gives answers to individuals, by taking food at their 
hands. He refused that offered him by Germanicus, 
who died soon after/' 

Many such events are related by historians who treat 
of Egypt, but this example will be sufficient. Once 
every year a grand festival was held in his honour, in 
which, however extraordinary it may appear, oxen 
were immolated to him. During this festival very 
great prodigies took place : among other things, Ara- 
mianus Marcellinus says, " The crocodiles forget their 
natural ferocity, become gentle, and do no harm to 
anybody." With these great advantages, Apis had, 



22 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



however, some drawbacks : he could not live beyond a 
certain period ; and if, when he had attained the age 
of twenty-five years, he still survived, the priests 
drowned him in the sacred cisterns, and privately let 
down his embalmed body into vaults prepared for the 
purpose. They then announced that Apis had disap- 
peared ; but if before this period he died a natural 
death, they proclaimed his death, and bore his body, 
sumptuously embalmed, to the temple of Serapis 
at Memphis. This temple was entered only by the 
priesthood, and by them only when Apis was interred. 
The gates were called Sorrow and Oblivion, and, as 
Plutarch tells us, made a mournful sound when opened. 
On the death of this bull, the w T hole land was filled 
with sorrow, which lasted till another was found. On 
one occasion, Apis came to a violent death : this w r as 
during the invasion by Cambyses, and it was by the 
hand of that furious despot that this insult was offered 
to the religion of Egypt. The priests, of course, de- 
clared Cambyses under the curse of the gods, and attri- 
buted his madness to their vengeance. Previous to 
that time dogs had been highly honoured in Egypt, but 
they now lost much of the respect that had been paid 
to them ; for when the body of the murdered divinity 
was cast out into the streets, all other animals reli- 
giously abstained, but the dogs sacrilegiously devoured 
it. Astronomically considered, Apis is a personage of 
some consequence ; the twenty-five years of his life 
marked a period of the sun and moon, and it appears 
that the worship of Apis commenced in the reign of 
Aseth, the thirty-second Pharaoh, before whose time 
the year bad consisted of 360 days generally, but 
sometimes it had been partially corrected by the inter- 
position of days at the pleasure of the reigning prince. 
In the reign of Aseth five days were added to the 3(>0, 
and a bull-calf was placed among the astronomical 



CONSECRATED ANIMALS. 



23 



symbols to designate the newly-reckoned year. After 
this time it was customary to install the kings of 
Egypt in the temple of Apis at Memphis. They were 
first initiated in the mysteries, and were religiously 
invested, after which they were permitted to bear the 
yoke of the god to a sanctuary, from which the profane 
were excluded. There they were obliged to swear that 
they would not insert months or days in the year, but 
that it should, as already established, consist of 365 
days. 

From these facts we learn that Apis was the symbol 
of the solar year in its new and more exact form, and 
that he was also the emblem of the cyle of twenty-five 
years then just discovered. But he also, as is evident 
from many ancient historians, typified the increase of 
the Nile. The probability is, that by a long course of 
meteorological observations, the priests had discovered 
the coincidence of the two periods, signified by Apis, to be 
productive of abundant harvests, and the anniversary 
of the god was always held at the Nile's overflow. 
Jablonsky says that the name signifies number and 
measure, and if so, it well characterizes an animal 
established as the guardian of the solar year, the cycle 
of twenty-five years, and the presage of a favourable 
inundation; but there is always a doubt upon such 
information as is drawn by old authors from hiero- 
glyphics. 



24 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE ANIMAL DIVINITIES OF EGYPT, AND THE FOURTH 
STATE OF PUBLIC RELIGION IN THAT COUNTRY. 

In addition to the worship of Apis, there were two other 
bulls which received divine adoration in Egypt : one was 
called Mnevis, and was consecrated to the sun, and 
was lodged in the city of the sun, On. Strabo mentions 
both the city and the bull, but further than this we 
know nothing of him. Far more ancient than Apis, 
the aera of his consecration is now lost, and perhaps for 
ever. De Yignolles, in his Chronology, gives it a date, 
but the date itself is in a period when nothing is known 
to be historically true : it is from this deity that the 
Israelites borrowed the worship of the golden calf, and 
this is the only circumstance of interest respecting 
him : he most probably represents the zodiacal sign. 
The worship paid to him, though lasting till the down 
fall of the Egyptian hierarchy, gradually diminished 
before the more important and popular rites of Apis, 
and little is said about him in history. Another bull, 
who obtained a share of adoration, was called Onuphis, 
like Mnevis, dedicated to the sun. His dwelling was 
at Hermunthis, and he was honoured as the symbol of 
abundance. It seems that by this bull the height to 
which the water reached in the inundations of the 
Nile was set forth, and there still exist statues of him 
surrounded by women suckling their children. Onuphis 
is but little heard of, only two or three writers making 
any mention of him. 

There is yet another class of gods worshipped in 
Egypt which must not be overlooked, while speaking of 



ANIMAL DIVINITIES. 



25 



the animal divinities : these are those mixtures of the 
human and brute shapes which are occasionally seen ; 
— Anubis, with the head of a dog ; Isis, with that of a 
cow ; and the Sphinx, which to the body of a lion joined 
the head of a woman. The first of these beings was 
worshipped in a city bearing his name, and not exclu- 
sively there, for he had chapels in almost all the 
Egyptian temples. His worship was not, however, so 
general, for a reason already assigned, after the Persian 
invasion, — or, it would rather be correct to say, that 
the dog, his emblem, was not so much respected. The 
statue of Anubis was generally of massy gold, or, at 
least, richly gilded, and so were all the attributes as- 
signed to him. These peculiarities are thus explained: 
— Anubis, like all other Egyptian deities, is an astro- 
nomical personage ; he signifies the horizon, and as the 
sun is always visible on the horizon, either as setting 
or rising, the statue was golden or gilded. He had the 
head of a dog, because that animal watches day and 
night ; this is the signification according to Plutarch, 
and in which Clement of Alexandria coincides. The 
two Anubis', says the latter, are the symbols of two 
hemispheres which environ the terrestrial globe. The 
statue of this god was always carried in the sacred 
processions of Isis and of Osiris ; and on one occasion, 
when Commodus thought fit to introduce the Egyptian 
worship at Rome, he carried, himself, the dog-headed 
deity. As the faithful companion of Osiris and Isis, it 
will be observed that the horizon must be ever present 
to the sun and the moon, and he (Anubis) is made an 
illegitimate son of the former, to account for his not 
being himself, like Horus, luminous. 

Isis has been already noticed. We now turn to the 
Sphinx : a symbol of the sun in a position which could 
in no other way be so well explained. This figure, 
viz., the body of a lion with the head of a woman, — 



26 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



intimates the overflowing of the Nile, which takes 
place while the sun is in the signs Leo and Virgo, both 
which are therefore united in the solar emblem. 
Among the consecrated objects continually recurring 
is the lotus ; nor is this the only plant endowed with 
sacred properties ; vast numbers of vegetables were set 
aside as holy, some for their medical virtues, some for 
their poisonous qualities, some for their utility in 
ordinary life, some merely for the periods at which they 
flourish. To understand this, we must recur to the 
presiding spirit, emanations from whom form the 
souls of men, the lives of animals, the qualities of 
plants and inanimate objects, — in short, that pervading 
vital principle by which every existing substance is 
what it is. 

The Egyptian illuminati taught that everything was 
once a portion of this supreme spirit, and should be- 
come so again ; but the manner in which earthly objects 
were portioned out, as consecrated to his symbolical 
representatives, was very differently interpreted by those 
w r ho w r ere not permitted to go within the veil. They 
attributed an actual divinity to the lotus and the 
onion, as much as to the ox and the hawk, as much 
again as to Apis and Osiris, or to Phtha himself. Thus 
the Egyptian religion degenerated into a fourth state, 
a mere system of fetish worship, like that prevailing 
among savage nations. There was a lofty and enno- 
bling system of morality and philosophy concealed 
under the cumbrous mass of their mythology ; but it 
was to the bulk of the people a sealed book : its doc- 
trines were conveyed to them in unintelligible stories, 
and in many cases illustrated by abominable rites. 
The state in which the national worship of Egypt was 
in the lime of Juvenal is depicted in no very flattering 
colours : at an earlier period there must hove been 
more gods thin mem in that country, and the slaying 



ANIMAL DIVINITIES. 



27 



of a sacred animal was of far more account in wicked- 
ness, than killing a man. An unfortunate Roman who, 
in the time of the Ptolemies, killed a cat accidentally, 
was torn to pieces by the mob, and that, although the 
king's guards were sent to rescue him. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF ISIS, AND THE EGYPTIAN DEITIES TYPICAL 
OF THE MOON. 

In the foregoing chapters the gods have been consi- 
dered, and shown to bear universal reference to the 
sun. Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, typifies the 
moon, and there are many other female divinities of 
Egypt which coincide with her in this particular. 
From the most remote antiquity the Egyptians vene- 
rated this luminary, and as the sun was adored by the 
name Phre previously to being personified under that 
of Osiris, so the moon was worshipped by the appella- 
tion Ioh. The Greek fables resulting from this worship 
will be noticed in their place ; but Ave now must 
remark that the priests, soon perceiving the effect of 
the moon on the atmosphere, the winds, and the rain, 
regarded that luminary, like the sun, as an efficient 
cause of the periodical inundation. It was this consi- 
deration which induced them to personify the moon 
under the name Isis, which, according to Jablonski, 
means cause of increase. This embodying and that 
of Osiris took place 320 years after the departure of 
the Israelites. At the new moon following the Summer 
solstice, the Nile begins to swell, and the priests, 
regarding Isis as the mother of the winds, and attri- 
buting the rise of the river to the northerly winds, 



28 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



gave her the credit of this heneficial phenomenon. 
She was hence represented as crowned with the crescent, 
hearing in her right hand the sistrum, a sort of kettle- 
drum, wherewith she announces the rising of the 
water ; and in her left hand a vase, to mark the 
abundance of which she was the cause. The people, 
who took all this literally, were persuaded that the 
tears of Isis which she shed for the loss of Osiris, and 
still sheds at the remembrance of that loss, caused the 
increase of the Nile ; and Savary says that the Copts 
are, though professing to be Christians, not yet cured 
of this superstition. They say there falls a dew at the 
solstice which makes the water of the Nile ferment, 
and. thereby causes its overflow. 

A little passage from Plutarch will show with what 
attention the Egyptian priests remarked every coinci- 
dence between the phases of the moon and the circum- 
stances of the inundation. They say " that the degrees 
of the elevation of the waters correspond with the 
terms of the planet : thus, at Elephantinos, they rise 
to the altitude of twenty-eight cubits, a number equal 
to the days of her revolution ; that at Mendes, where 
the increase was the least considerable, they arrived 
to seven cubits, answering to the number of days in 
which she decreases : that the mean term of the inun- 
dation at Memphis was fourteen cubits, and was rela- 
tive to the period of the full moon." It will be at 
once seen that the coincidence is rather accidental than 
really caused, as they supposed ; still the passage 
shows both their industry and ingenuity. When Isis 
had been once designated the cause of abundance, the 
transition was easy to the personification of the earth 
Under that name, and here again we shall find a few 
adventures of the goddess agreeing with the physical 
circumstances of the earth. Some of the priesthood 
seem to have restricted the name of Isis, when so 



DEITIES TYPICAL OF THE MOON. 



29 



applied to that part of the Land of Egypt overflowed 
by the Nile, and they called the inundation itself the 
marriage of Osiris and Isis. 

Sacred to the goddess of whom we are now speak- 
ing was the brilliant star Sirius, called among the 
Egyptians Sothis, and sometimes Isis, and by many 
writers, Damascius among the rest, confounded with 
her. It was from the rising of this star, on a particular 
night, that the civil year of ancient Egypt com- 
menced ; at this period they were enabled to tell how 
high the waters would rise : and on this account 
they called Sothis " the star which makes the waters 
increase." Astronomically, this star was made use of 
to mark, by its rising, the commencement of two cycles 
called Sothic, the former of which comprehended 1461 
years, and terminated when the sun was in the same 
point of the heavens from which he set out. The 
second was the Apis period of twenty-five years, con- 
taining 309 lunar revolutions, and at the end of which 
the new moons fell precisely on the same days. These 
reasons, connecting the star Sothis with the moon and 
with the Nile, seem to have been the cause of its dedi- 
cation to Isis. A name by which Isis was worshipped, 
or perhaps a personification of one of her attributes, 
is Bubastis, a very popular deity of ancient Egypt ; her 
symbol was the cat, and her worship is accounted for 
by theories, some of which are absurd, and some of a 
nature on which we cannot enlarge. A city called by 
her name was the principal seat of her worship, and 
the festival celebrated in her honour at that city was 
the first in dignity and importance among those cele- 
brated in Egypt. " Those who meet to celebrate this 
festival," says Herodotus, " embark in vessels a great 
number of men and women promiscuously. During 
the passage, some of the women strike their tabors, 
and the men play on flutes : the rest of both sexes clap 



30 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



their hands, and join in chorus. Whatever city they 
approach, the vessels are brought to shore ; of the 
women some continue their instrumental music, some 
call aloud to the females of the place, provoke them 
by injurious language, and dance about in a manner 
highly indecorous. On their arrival at Bubastis, the 
feast commences by the sacrifice of many victims, and, 
on this occasion, a greater quantity of wine is consumed 
than in all the rest of the year. The inhabitants of the 
city report that no less than 700,000 men and women, 
not to speak of children, have been known to assemble 
at this solemnity 

Bubastis is the same in her office with the Greek 
Ilithyia (called by the Romans Lucina), and was accord- 
ingly invoked under the same circumstances. Plutarch 
says that men were offered up to her in sacrifice : 
those men were chosen who had red hair, and they were 
called Typhons. After having been burnt alive, their 
ashes were thrown to the winds. Porphyry states the 
same fact^ but says that Amasis put an end to it, sub- 
stituting waxen figures for the human victims. The 
same accusation was brought against the Egyptians in 
the time of Herodotus, who repels the charge, saying, 
" How can we suppose that a people, who can scarcely 
prevail on themselves to sacrifice a few animals, shed 
human blood on the altars of their gods ?" The testi- 
mony is, however, as strong on the other side, and the 
question of Herodotus admits of a very obvious reply. 
The animals were consecrated and looked upon by the 
people as gods, and human life was on many occasions 
shown to be less esteemed than the lives of these 
beasts. Hence, if they were willing, in Egypt, to 
sacrifice a few animals, there is no antecedent impro- 
bability in their being willing to sacrifice as many men. 
H uman sacrifices were certainly not common in ancient 
Egypt, though not, it would seem, so rare as to warrant 



DEITIES TYPICAL OF THE MOON. 



31 



the indignant remark of Herodotus. It may be asked 
how can Bubastis be the moon, whereas she is the 
daughter of Osiris and Isis, and Isis is herself the 
moon ; but this does not offer any real difficulty. Horus 
and Osiris are both the sun, yet the first is the son of 
the latter, — in fact, Isis is the moon and the earth in 
general; Bubastis is merely a particular attribute of 
Isis, and a particular phasis of the moon ; viz., when 
three days old, and on this account it was, that her 
festival was celebrated on the third day of the lunar 
month. The full moon was personified under another 
name, and was worshipped at Butis, Buto, or Butos, 
a city called after her and built in her honour ; here 
was also an oracle, the most celebrated in Egypt, and 
to which the sovereigns of that country had recourse in 
times of difficulty. 

One anecdote of this oracle is very interesting : it is 
found in the second Book of Herodotus. Mycerinus 
had been told by the oracle at Butos that he should 
reign for six years, and die in the seventh ; this intel- 
ligence astonished him, and he sent, in return, to re- 
proach the oracle with injustice, for that his father and 
uncle, Cheops and Cephren, who had been injurious to 
mankind, and impious to the gods, had enjoyed each a 
long life, whereas he who had been just and pious, was 
threatened with death. The oracle said, in reply, that 
this was in consequence of the conduct for which he 
commended himself, — that he had not fulfilled the will 
of the fates, who had decreed that for 150 years Egypt 
should be oppressed, of which determination Cheops 
and Cephren had been aware, but he had not. As 
soon as the king knew that his death was inevitable, he 
caused an immense number of lamps to be made, by 
the light of which, when evening approached, he spent 
his hours in festal magnificence. By night and day he 
frequented the groves and streams, and whatsoever place 



32 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



he thought productive of delight. Thus, by changing 
night into day, he thought to live twelve years instead 
of six, and so convict the oracle of falsehood, but in 
the seventh year he died. 

There is a legend connected with the goddess Butos, 
which is of some consequence. After the death of 
Osiris, Isis, to shield Horus from the power of Typhon, 
brought him to the lake at the city Butis, and placed 
him in the hands of the goddess so called. She 
received him, and secured him in a floating island till 
he attained the age of manhood, when he left his con- 
cealment, and slew the usurper. This fable has been 
thus interpreted. It had been early remarked that at 
the time of new moon the dews were less frequent, 
and that they became very abundant when the moon 
was at the full. The moon, therefore, in this position 
acquired a new character, and a new name ; a temple 
was built to her on the borders of a lake, to designate 
the humidity in which she delighted ; and we may see 
from hence a cause for the popularity of a divinity so 
beneficent, for where there is no rain, the nocturnal 
dews were of incalculable service, and they formed the 
chief reason for the adoration paid to Butos. 

The rest of the legend refers to the hot wind which 
prevents the falling of the dews, and the consequent 
blessings of fertility when the Summer returned. But 
when the sun acts upon the lakes, and raises up the 
dews, and^at the same time causes the nortli wind to 
blow, then the hot winds are again suppressed, and the 
dew descends upon the earth. The shrew-mouse and 
the hawk were sacred to Butos, and were, when dead, 
embalmed and buried in her city. The reason for the 
choice of the former was, that being esteemed blind, it 
was an emblem of primaeval night or darkness. Butos, 
Isis, and Athor will be now recognised to coincide : 
Athor is the darkness that overspread the earth before 



DEITIES TYPICAL OF THE MOON. 



33 



creation, whereof night is the existing symbol, the 
moon a symbol of night, Isis of the moon, Butos of 
Isis, and the shrew-mouse of Butos. The ceremonies 
in which this goddess, under her general name, Isis, 
was worshipped, were celebrated at Busiris : vast num- 
bers of victims were sacrificed, and great rejoicings 
held. One species of reverence was a little singular; 
men and women flogged themselves with great deter- 
mination at this city during the festival, and this 
flagellation was not unattended with mystery, Hero- 
dotus says, he dares not mention in whose honour it was 
that the stripes were given; and Yoltaire renders the 
passage rather more comically than correctly, that he 
does not dare to say how the stripes were laid on. — 
" The Carians of Egypt treat themselves with still 
greater severity; they cut themselves in the face with 
swords, and by this distinguish themselves from the 
Egyptian natives. This festival ranked next in dig- 
nity to that of Bubastis, already mentioned; those of 
Butos, celebrated in that city, were the fifth in rank of 
the six great public festivals of ancient Egypt." 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE WORSHIP OF THE NILE, AND OF THE NAMES 
UNDER WHICH IT WAS REVERED. 

When we reflect on the advantages which the Egyp- 
tians derived from the Nile, and take into consideration 
the symbolical form of their mythology, we shall natu- 
rally be led to expect that this beautiful river would, 
in some way or other, be a common object of religious 
adoration. We have seen how, by the changes of the 
Nile, additions were made to the celestial divinities; 



34 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



nor shall we be disappointed when we search for 
earthly gods, formed out of the properties and inunda- 
tions of this great cause of Egyptian plenty. Osiris 
and Isis themselves were chiefly regarded as they 
affected the rising of the waters; and this connexion 
could not long be remarked without paying something 
like the same adoration to the river itself. From the 
curious fact that the inundations were called " the 
marriage of Osiris and Isis/' it would seem that when 
Isis represents the earth, the Nile coincides with 
Osiris; and this may be the reason that Osiris is painted 
of a deep-blue colour, a hue certainly very proper for a 
personification of water, but not very appropriate to 
the sun. It became soon a favourite article of the 
popular creed, that the gods were born on the banks of 
the Nile. Temples were raised to designate this, and 
hence the river became the father of a numerous divine 
progeny. Shrines were built to his honour, images 
erected, victims sacrificed, and the crocodile consecrated 
as his emblem ; indeed, the principal occupation of his 
priests was, according to Herodotus, to embalm the 
bodies of those who had been killed by crocodiles, 
or drowned in the waters. His festival coincided with 
that of Apis, and both were celebrated with great 
magnificence. " This god," says Libanius, " is annually 
invited by sacred ceremonies to assist at the splendid 
festival, that he may overflow the lands; and if they 
who preside over sacred things fail to observe this 
solemnity at the appointed time, he would cease to 
carry fertility over the plains of Egypt." A nilometer, 
which was an instrument made to measure the increase 
of the river, was another symbol of the god, and a 
model of this was carried in procession in his ceremo- 
nies. Now this very instrument was consecrated, 
according to Jablonski, by the name Serapis, and 
wheresoever a nilometer was erected, there was a 



WORSHIP OF THE ]SILE. 



35 



temple to Serapis. It must not be forgotten, that 
there was a celestial Serapis, agreeing with the sun, as 
well as this terrestrial god, coinciding with the Nile; 
and the wooden pillar which was carried about in the 
processions of Apis, soon became endowed, in the 
opinion of the untaught multitude, with a divine virtue, 
and was deposited in the temples, as itself a god ; thus 
then is the Nile adored as a symbol of the great Osiris, 
the god Serapis as a personification of the Nile, the 
nilometer as an emblem of Serapis, and the wooden 
pillar as an emblem of the nilometer; while the croco- 
dile was esteemed divine, and a symbol of all. In the 
time of Constantine, the nilometer was regularly carried 
in procession to and from the christian churches, as a 
mark of homage "to him who ruleth the waters:" in 
the time of Julian the ancient ceremony was restored, 
and Theodosius the Great abolished it altogether. 

Pignorius preserves a representation of a medal, 
struck at Alexandria, on the obverse of which the Nile 
is figured as an aged man, in a recumbent attitude : on 
his head is a corn measure, in one hand the cornucopia, 
and in the other a roll of papyrus, with an inscription, 
" To the holy god Nile." On the reverse is a head of 
Serapis, crowned with the corn-measure, round which 
is the legend, " To the holy god Serapis." 

The most splendid temple of Serapis was at Canopus, 
which name seems also to have been given to the 
divinity; and there is certainly very great difficulty in 
ascertaining how it originated. This temple was 
famous for the cures that were there performed, and 
the licentiousness that was there permitted. A noted 
oracle drew crowds of inquirers; the celebrity of the 
priests, the salubrity of the situation, and the splen- 
dour of the ceremonies, drew crowds of visiters, so that 
there were few temples more popular than this. Here 

d 2 



36 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



it was that Ptolemy the astronomer made his observa- 
tions, and on the columns of this temple his discoveries 
were engraved, and here it was that the courtiers of 
Alexander the Great wished to transport him when 
dying. There is a story, but though worth mentioning, 
it is hardly worth investigating for the purpose of refu- 
tation, that the name was given to the city from the 
pilot of Menelaus, who died here, when that prince 
revisited Egypt. There is a more curious tale told by 
Rufinus, in his Ecclesiastical History: " How," says 
he, " can I paint the crimes committed by superstition 
at Canopus ? There, under pretext of studying sacer- 
dotal literature, magic was almost publicly professed. 
This place, which may be termed the source of demons, 
became more celebrated among the pagans than Alex- 
andria itself. It will not be improper to unfold the 
origin of these monstrous errors. It is said that the 
Chaldeans, transporting the fire which was their god 
into all the provinces, offered to let him combat those 
of other nations, on condition that, if he remained con- 
queror, they should adore him. The priest of Canopus 
accepted the challenge, and devised this stratagem: 
they fabricate in Egypt, pitchers of an extremely porous 
earth, through which the water filtrates, and is puri- 
fied; he took one of them, stopped up the pores with 
wax, and painting it with various colours, filled it with 
water: the top he covered with an ancient statue's 
head, said to be that of the pilot of Menelaus. This 
he declared was his god. The Chaldeans presented 
themselves, and the contest began; they lighted a fire 
round the vase, the wax melted, the water made its 
escape, and the fire was extinguished. The fraud of 
the priest gave the victory to Canopus over the Chal- 
dean deity. From that moment the image of Canopus 
has always been made with very short feet, a narrow 



WORSHIP OF THE NILE. 



37 



neck, and the back and belly rounded like a pitcher* 
It is under this form that he is worshipped as the van- 
quisher of all the gods." 

This tale has crept into several works designed for 
the instruction of youth, and therefore requires notice. 
It is not true that Canopus, or Serapis, was so repre- 
sented, nor did the Egyptians ever worship water, 
except in a personification of the Nile, or the dew. 
The pitchers in question were emblems of the Nile,, 
and so far sacred; and they were peculiarly appro- 
priate in the temple of Serapis, at Canopus, because 
the earth, out of which they were fabricated, was found 
in the neighbourhood of that city. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OF TYPHON, HIS WIFE NEPHTHYSj AND HIS 
CONCUBINE ASO. 

In relating the legends of Osiris and Isis, we have 
seen a prominent part performed by Typhon, repre- 
sented as the brother of these beneficent divinities. 
That Osiris and Isis, the sun, the moon, the earth, the 
dew, and the Nile, should be worshipped, is in accord- 
ance with the obvious dictates of human nature; but 
that Typhon should be worshipped, requires some 
explanation. 

This adoration was the result of fear, and coincides 
strictly with the devil-worship still met with among 
some savage African tribes; the malignity of this 
being they strove to appease by sacrifices and offerings, 
and when he would not be propitiated, they beat and 
insulted his statue. The crocodile, from his destructive 
character, the ass from his obstinacy, the hippopotamus 



38 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



from his fierceness, were sacred to the evil genius; at 
least so we are told by Plutarch. Now modern tra- 
vellers are unanimous in saying, that the hippopotamus 
is, unless provoked, a quiet and stupid animal; and 
surely the patient ass does not seem an apt type of the 
spirit of violence : there is evidently some reason which 
has been withheld, and which we shall perhaps never 
know. This remark will apply to many other such 
symbols. The goat, for instance, though so proverbial 
for its lustful character, is not remarkable for fecundity; 
it is by no means equal to the cat or the rabbit; it is 
not, therefore, on account of its fruitfulness, that it is 
consecrated to Mendes. 

But to return to Typhon. The animals sacred to 
him were fed in the precincts of his temples, and sup- 
posed to be animated by the soul of the demon. " The 
Egyptians/' says Plutarch, " when he could not be pro- 
pitiated with sacrifices, loaded him with opprobrious 
terms, abused him with invectives, and struck his 
statue. If any extraordinary heats happened, which 
occasioned pestilential disorders, or other calamities, 
the priests, holding Typhon in horror, conducted into 
some gloomy place one of the animals dedicated to 
him. First they tried to terrify them with menaces, 
and if the contagion did not cease, they sacrificed him 
to the public vengeance." This conduct was politic, 
for if the result was successful, the priests had the 
glory of overcoming Typhon; and, at all events, it 
allayed the fears and raised the hopes of the suffering 
people, which alone was likely to have a beneficial 
effect. 

The adventures of this being have been already 
noticed, when speaking of Osiris, and there the mention 
was made of his wife and sister, Nephthys, who, by 
Osiris, had a son, Auubis; Osiris leaving his crown of 
lotos with Nephthys, it became evident who was the 



OP TYPHON. 



39 



father of the dog-headed deity. Now, in order to 
explain this fable, it will be necessary to recollect, 
that Isis signified that part of Egypt which was 
inundated by the Nile, and Osiris, the river itself. 
Hence the overflowing was termed the marriage of 
Osiris with Isis. But in years of extraordinary 
increase, the waters flowed beyond 'this limit, and 
blessed with a temporary fertility the desert plains 
beyond the hills. Among the most remarkable of the 
plants thus raised would be the lotus, which would 
show how it was that the once barren land became so 
suddenly fertile. These desert plains, over which the 
hot wind (Typhon) blows without interruption, were 
soon represented as the wife of that demon, condemned 
to perpetual sterility. 

Aso, or Thueri, another mythological personage, was 
also concerned in the dethronement of Osiris by Typhon ; 
and she is merely a personification of the south wind 
that blows from Ethiopia, which frequently blows with 
the khampsin, and aggravates its mischievous effects. 
The sands which are carried over the country by these 
storms, offer a very natural explanation of that part 
of the fable which makes Nephthys accompany her 
fearful spouse on this terrific expedition. In some old 
sculptures Nephthys is represented as a frightful figure, 
having the head of a crocodile, the body of a swine, 
and the hands of a woman. As the crocodile was con- 
sidered sacred both to the Nile and to Typhon, this 
destructive creature was very carefully tended in many 
districts of Egypt; and it will not be foreign to the 
purpose to notice the account given us by Herodotus 
of this veneration. 

" Those who live near Thebes, and the lake Mceris, 
hold the crocodile in religious veneration; they select 
one, which they render tame and docile, suspending 
from its ears golden ornaments, and sometimes gems of 



40 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



value. (The crocodile has no external ears, and there- 
fore the meaning of Herodotus must be, that the orna- 
ments were fixed to two membranes which cover 
apertures just below the eyes, and which apertures are 
supposed to be ears.) Its fore -feet are confined with a 
chain : they feed it with the flesh of the sacred victims, 
and with other appointed food. While it lives, they 
treat it with unceasing attention, and when it dies, it is 
first embalmed, and then deposited in a sacred chest/' 
He further remarks, that those who do not consider this 
animal sacred, but kill it whenever they can, call it 
champsa. Now this word signifies a chest, or ark ; and 
this explains why the crocodile should be dedicated to 
Typhon; for it appears from Creuzer's remarks, that the 
body of Osiris was eaten by a crocodile, and carried thus 
to the sea; and hence it is that the animal, being a type of 
opposition to Osiris, should be only partially worshipped. 

We will close this chapter with an account of the 
worship of Papremis, or Mars, at the city so called, 
and with a remark concerning Anubis, which was 
omitted in its proper place in the fifth chapter. 

" At Heliopolis and at Butos, sacrifices alone are 
offered, but at Papremis, in addition to the offerings of 
victims, other ceremonies are observed. At the close 
of the day, a small number of priests are in attendance 
on the statue of Mars; a greater number, armed with 
clubs, place themselves at the entrance of his temple; 
opposite to these may be seen more than a thousand 
men tumultuously assembled, with clubs also in their 
hands, to perform their religious vows. The day be- 
fore the festival, they remove the statue of the god, 
which is kept in a small case decorated with gold, to a 
different apartment. The priests attendant upon the 
statue place it, together with its case, on a four- wheeled 
carriage, and begin to drag it along. Those at the 
entrance of the temple endeavour to prevent its admis- 



OF TYPHON. 



41 



sion, "but the votaries above mentioned come to the 
succour of the god, and a combat ensues between the 
parties, in which many heads are broken, and, I should 
suppose, many lives lost, though this the Egyptians 
positively deny. The motive for these ceremonies is 
thus explained by the natives of the country : the tem- 
ple is, they say, inhabited by the mother of the god ; 
he coming himself to visit her, and not being known by 
the attendants, was roughly refused admission: obtain- 
ing proper assistance, he returned, severely chastised 
those who had opposed him, and obtained admission 
to his parent. From this circumstance the above 
combat was every year performed at the festival of 
Papremis." 

With regard to Anubis, it should have been men- 
tioned that his dwelling was supposed to be in the star 
Sirius, which was, on that account, called the dog-star, 
fcvoov, by the Greeks; Canicula by the Romans; and 
the period when it rises heliacally is the first of the 
dog-days. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THOTH, OR HERMES TRISME GIST U S. 

Hitherto we have seen the Egyptian mythology as 
embodying a system of natural philosophy, and for the 
most part reducible to astrotheology. We must now 
examine it in another point of view, and investigate 
the moral philosophy which it taught; for, as has been 
before remarked, this and every system has a moral, 
as well as a physical and a mythological sense. The 
divinity who forms, as it were, a link to connect the 
metaphysics with the physics of the ancient Egyptian 



42 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



system, is Hermes, or Thoth. On the one hand he is 
represented as another name for, or a variety of, Anubis, 
whose splendid abode has been just pointed out; and 
on the other he leads us, as it were, behind the veil of 
mystery, and lays open to our view what were the 
opinions of this extraordinary people, as to the nature 
and destination of the soul. 

It will not be foreign to the subject to show the 
chain of ideas by which the dog-headed Anubis becomes 
the thrice-great Thoth (Hermes Trismegistus). Astro- 
nomically he is the horizon, the watcher, having the 
rays of the sun ever shining upon him, the constant 
companion of the luminaries. From hence he is mytho- 
logically made the companion and faithful guardian of 
Isis, the sentinel, ever wakeful, of the Gods, and placed 
in the most glorious star to notice all that passes in 
heaven and earth ; but a being so placed must be infi- 
nite in wisdom; there can be nothing hid from his eye; 
the natures of animals, plants and stones, the actions 
of men, and the events of kingdoms; he gives notice 
to the gods of all that passes, and hence every kind of 
knowledge must be referred ultimately to him; but in 
this character he is no longer called Anubis, but 
Thoth; and this name will require to be examined. 
As Anubis he belongs to the material, as Thoth, to the 
ideal or metaphysical system, and is, in fact, a perso- 
nification of wisdom. 

The sages of ancient times engraved upon pillars, 
walls, and altars, the lessons they designed to leave 
behind them. On this subject, Josephus has a remark- 
able passage, which, whatever degree of credence we 
choose to give it, as an historical fact, is yet quite 
satisfactory as to proving the custom. "The patriarch 
Beth," says he, " knowing that Adam had foretold how 
every tiling n earth should perish, either by fire or by 
a general deluge, and fearing lest philosophy and astro- 



OF THOTH. 



43 



nomy should be effaced from the remembrance of men, 
and be buried in oblivion, engraved his knowledge on 
two columns, the one of brick, the other of stone, that 
if the waters should destroy the former, the latter 
might remain and instruct the human race in astrono- 
mical knowledge. This column is still to be seen in 
the Siridiac land/' 

Now, when we examine the works of Manetho, who 
lived 300 years before Josephus, there is the same 
column noticed as existing in the Siridiac land, and a 
declaration that he (Manetho) had seen it; that the 
column was engraved by the first Thoth, in sacred lan- 
guage, and in hieroglyphical characters ; that after the 
deluge, the son of the second Thoth had translated the 
inscription into the language of the priests, and had 
written them in sacerdotal characters. 

We must go a little lower down, and we shall find 
Ammianus Marcellinus speaking of a similar event: 
his words are, — " It is affirmed that the Egyptian 
priests, versed in all the branches of religious know- 
ledge, and apprized of the approach of the deluge, were 
fearful lest the divine worship should be effaced from 
the memory of man. To preserve the memory of it, 
therefore, they dug, in various parts of the kingdom, 
subterranean winding passages, on the walls of w r hich 
they engraved their knowledge, under different forms 
of animals and birds, which they call hieroglyphics, 
and which are unintelligible to the Romans." 

Now, before we speak further of Thoth, let us exa- 
mine a little these passages ; and first that of Manetho, 
which is the most ancient: this was taken from a tra- 
dition preserved among the Jews concerning Adam, of 
which Josephus gives a more exact account in the pas- 
sage quoted, and Ammianus Marcellinus gives one still 
more altered from the original tradition than that of 
Manetho. We shall have, in another part of this work, 



44 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



occasion to show how the Jewish traditions were 
altered and adopted in all nations, and in Egypt parti- 
cularly, where that people dwelt some centuries, and 
with which country they ever kept up a close inter- 
course. 

Herodotus, in the 141st chapter of his second hook, 
gives the Egyptian account of the destruction of Senna- 
cherib's army, foisted into their own history, and 
ascribed to the prayers of Sethos, their king. This is 
a sufficient proof as to what use the Egyptians made 
of the history and traditions of the Jews ; but the 
passage from Ammianus deserves a little further notice, 
because, after having ascribed all the theological know- 
ledge to the antediluvian Egyptians, he says, that they 
engraved their attainments on the walls of their sub- 
terranean temples, to prevent the loss of the sciences ; 
this is to state, that the characters were truly hiero- 
glyphics, and not confined to any language, which is 
not in accordance with the words of Manetho, who 
tells us what was the language in which they were 
written. The latter omits to say where the Siridiac 
land is situated : which was a great oversight, inasmuch 
as no other person, ancient or modern, seems to have 
known its locality. 

But, to leave this digression, the word Thoth, ac- 
cording to Jablonski, means a pillar, and this explana- 
tion makes nearly all the difficulty vanish : it shows us 
how persons, separated by many ages, may have been 
taught by Thoth : it proves that this personification of 
wisdom was not a man, however wise, but the col- 
lective discoveries of the wisest of mankind; and it 
accounts for three eras in the history of science having 
given to this personification the title of Trismegistus, 
or thrice-great. We, also, by this explanation can 
see why it was that so many books were ascribed to 
Thoth, more particularly when we know, which (lalcii 



OF THOTH. 



45 



expressly asserts, " that the discoveries engraven on 
pillars had not the names of the authors." The other 
idea, namely, that Thoth was a distinguished man, 
who, hy his learning and inventions, first civilized 
Egypt, will appear totally impossible, if we reflect on 
the discoveries attributed to him ; for Diodorus says, 
" All the sciences, institutions, and arts, were invented 
by Thoth/' The three Thoths, however, seem to refer 
to three eras. The Egyptians placed the most ancient 
before the deluge : this marked the infancy of human 
knowledge whether it be true that they had monu- 
ments which had really survived that tremendous 
event, or whether some of their earlier pillars bore 
reference to events before the flood, of which the 
memory was preserved by tradition. The second 
Thoth denotes the attainments of that era when chro- 
nology and astronomy began to be studied with success, 
when the hieroglyphics were translated into the sacer- 
dotal characters, and law and religion became fixed 
establishments. The third denotes the perfection of 
arts, sciences, and religion, — a state to which the 
Egyptians deemed they had attained, and to the per- 
sonified wisdom of their own age, they applied the 
magnificent epithet, thrice-great. The representations 
of Thoth, for the most part, give him the form of 
Anubis ; it is thus that he is depicted as the friend 
and counsellor of Osiris ; in his hand he holds the 
lantern by which he throws the light of philosophy 
upon every object, before him is the mirror of the 
gods, — the mirror of philosophy, in which, if a man 
look, he sees himself as he is, — beneath his feet is the 
vessel of water of the Nile, out of which vessel, if any 
one drink, he shall be purified from all grovelling ideas, 
and his mind shall be set upon science. Of a being so 
gifted, Creuzer thus speaks in his mythological work : 
" As Osiris, in Apis, is an embodying of that life, that 



46 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



principle of vitality which never perishes, but through 
generation after generation continues to flourish, so 
Thoth, or Hermes, is the personification of mental 
power, and is chosen in the semi-human form in which 
we see him, on account of its connexion with the 
hieroglyphic characters of which he was the inventor : 
he is the ever-increasing wisdom of all times." 

Finding, then, that abstract truth had a personal 
representative among the gods of Egypt, we shall be 
induced to expect that, if all beings were emanations 
from the Great First Cause, and consequently all 
eternal, that the purest of those emanations should be 
eternal in one state, such as the soul of man, which 
remains, and shall remain, the same thinking spiritual 
essence ; that when that spirit is released from those 
circumstances, which, however emblematical, are yet 
but clogs upon its powers, the soul shall arrive at the 
knowledge of truth, which is here impossible. This 
expectation is fulfilled by the system under considera- 
tion. No sooner is the spirit of man released from the 
body, and entered upon that course of existence which 
is at length to reunite it with the Supreme Being, than 
Thoth becomes its conductor. 

The period of wandering assigned to the soul of man, 
and indeed to every spiritual existence, is 3000 years ; 
during that time the human spirit passes through 
various states of existence in other shapes, till the 
mystic period arrives, when it is reabsorbed into the 
eternal Phtah, and again beamed forth an emanation 
of his creating energy as a fresh human soul. Through 
all these changes it is led by Thoth; he unites the 
spirit to the body, he releases it when struggling to be 
free therefrom, he is the inventor of medicine, of em- 
balming, he prepared the body of Osiris for the tomb ; 
and when the latter is depicted as passing judgment 
on the dead, Thoth, in the figure of Anubis, is still by 



OF THOTH. 



47 



him, with, his writing-table and scroll, and in a still 
higher signification of secret worship was he identified 
with Osiris as the ruler of life and death. 

It is from the observations on stellar bodies that the 
Egyptians derived their natural philosophy — a fact 
which naturally led them to say that all learning came 
from the stars ; and when the god of wisdom was placed 
in the most brilliant of those lights, it is only in con- 
formity with their system to say that all moral know- 
ledge came thence also ; but that divine wisdom, which 
they boasted to receive from above, was not to be 
divulged to the profane. That which concerned the 
arts, the comfort of life, and the regulation of moral 
conduct, they made publicly known ; but that esoteric 
philosophy, which taught of the human soul and the 
origin of all things, of the mysteries of astronomy and 
the system of cosmogony which they had established, 
this was considered as consecrated, and as much inter- 
dicted to the bulk of the people as the sacerdotal office. 
On this account it seems to be, that there were two 
kinds of writing among them, one hieroglyphic, which 
was rather allegorical than picture-writing, and the 
other a species of figures, which may have been picture- 
writing reduced to characters, not unlike the Chinese ; 
the one could only be understood by the initiated, the 
other was allowed to be common property. 



46 



CHAPTER X. 

OF THE COSMOGONY, AND THE MORAL PHILOSOPHY 
OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 

The most important article of the ancient Egyptian 
moral philosophy was the belief, among that people, of 
the soul's immortality. — a belief that was inculcated by 
the priesthood, set forth in allegories of yarious kinds, 
typified by many ceremonies, and uniyersally receiyed. 
In this respect, the antiquity of the system operated 
greatly in its fayour; it was nearer to the fountain- 
head, and consequently less corrupted. It was among 
this people, too. that the notion of transmigration 
seems to haye taken its rise, and was taught in the 
way before mentioned to a considerable extent. The 
immortality of the soul was set forth by very significant 
ceremonies. At the conclusion of a feast, a coffin, with 
the figure of a corpse within it, was carried round the 
company, and exhibited to the guests, and the epi- 
curean maxim repeated, — i: Snatch the enjoyments of 
time, for by and by thou shalt resemble this." But 
this maxim was held by the better informed to signify, 
" Snatch the intellectual enjoyments of time, for they 
shall last, while the others will not ayail thee when 
thou shalt be like this." 

Another ceremony, and a still more significant one, 
was that at funerals ; all those who had anything of 
which to accuse the deceased were commanded to come 
forward and declare it, as he was now to answer for it 
before the gods. Porphyry tells us, also, that the 
intestines of bodies embalmed were put into a chest, 
and the following prayer to the sun was repeated by 



OF THE COSMOGONY. 



49 



one of the embalmers, — " Sun ! if the dead has in 
this life been in any way criminal, we pray thee to 
pardon him. seeing that he was guilty only on account 
of these." He then points to the chest, which is imme- 
diately thrown into the river. 

From this passage, and from many others, we may 
gather that the Egyptians believed the spirit of man to 
be threefold, viz., an intellectual spirit, whose seat was 
in the head, — a moral spirit, situated in the heart, — 
and a sensual or animal soul, which was lodged in the 
bowels. This singular, but ingenious, theory was 
borrowed by the Greeks, from them by the Romans, 
and maintained its ground a long while. 

We must not conclude our notice of Egyptian my- 
thology without some account of that wonderful and 
interesting statue, so often referred to by poets — the 
statue of Memnon. It was said among the Egyptians 
generally to be the statue of one of their early kings, 
Osymandias. It was of gigantic dimensions, composed 
of granite, and had the peculiarity of yielding a sweet 
sound at sunrise. This was the contrivance of the 
priests, who were capable, as is well known, of far greater 
wonders than this. 

The name given to it by the Greeks was Memnon ; 
but whether Memnon or Osymandias, both Greeks and 
Egyptians declared him to have been the son of the 
morning. In this light he is spoken of by many Greek 
and Latin poets, and it will be worth while to investi- 
gate the fables which give him so illustrious a birth. 
u Tithon." says a writer but little known, (Isacius 
Tzetzes,) " son of Laomedon, was beloved by the 
goddess of day, of whom were born Memnon and 
Emathion." which passage is thus explained by Dio- 
dorus : M Tithon, son of Laomedon, and brother of 
Priam, led his armies into the eastern countries of 
Asia, as far as Ethiopia, whence arose the fable of 

E 



50 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



Memnon, born of Aurora." But the Ethiopian Mem- 
non, who was spoken of as black, could not have been 
that one mentioned by Diodorus in the passage above 
quoted, for, in the first place, there is little reason to 
suppose the Memnon of Homer a sable warrior, and. 
in the second place, his discoveries must have been of 
a curious order if he found Ethiopia in the east of Asia. 
But this difficulty is removed by another passage of 
Diodorus, and a corresponding one of Philostratus. 
" Memnon," says the former, " came to the aid of 
Troy, commanding the armies of Teutames, emperor 
of Assyria, whose assistance Priam had implored, be- 
cause Troy was dependent on Assyria. Teutames sent 
him 20,000 men, Ethiopians and Susians, and 200 cars, 
commanded by Memnon." This warrior, beloved by 
the emperor, and then governor of Persia, was in the 
prime of manhood, and famous for his strength of body 
and mind ; he had built a palace in the city of Susa, 
which bore his name till the reign of the Persians, 
and was then called, in scripture, Shushan the palace. 

Again, Pausanius tells us, that it was from Susa, 
and not from Ethiopia, that Memnon came to the siege 
of Troy; and Philostratus says, that he was long pos- 
terior to the Ethiopian Memnon, whose worship was 
established in Egypt. 

The true name of the statue was Amenophis, which 
signifies teller of good tidings, and by its shadow it 
indicated the approach of the equinox. In the time of 
Herodotus it did not sound, for Cambyses had muti- 
lated it, and it was not restored till the reign of the 
Ptolemies. The Romans subsequently bore witness to 
its vocal powers, and placed several inscriptions on the 
base to that effect. 

It appears that this statue, like most other objects of 
Egyptian idolatry, was in the view of the priests only 
an astronomical symbol. They held that the universe 



OF THE COSMOGONY. 



51 



was created at the vernal equinox, " that when the 
stars began to move in space, Aries was in the middle 
of heaven, the moon in Cancer, the sun rose with Leo, 
Mercury with Yirgo, Yenus with Libra, Mars in Scorpio, 
Jupiter in Sagittarius, and Saturn in Capricornus." 

There was also an old Egyptian chronicle, which 
stated that, after 36,525 years, the zodiac would be 
again in its former position with regard to the planets. 
Amour, a god whom we have already mentioned, was 
consecrated to the vernal equinox ; Amenophis was 
also sacred to the same season, and it was at that 
period that the statue was said to utter the seven vocal 
sounds which were the symbols of the planets. These 
seven sounds, which also constituted the ancient gamut, 
explain to us the origin of that most splendid fable, so 
fruitful in lofty poetry — the harmony of the spheres. 

A treatise on Egyptian mythology cannot be better 
concluded than by the beautiful and philosophical 
remarks of Savary: — "It was not the intent of the 
priesthood at first to enslave their nation to the 
wretched superstition that did prevail. The necessity 
of expressing themselves by allegorical fables before 
the invention of letters, and the keeping of these repre- 
sentations in their temples, accustomed the people to 
hold them sacred. When writing became familiar, 
and they had wholly forgotten their first meaning, 
they no longer set bounds to their veneration, but 
actually worshipped symbols which their ancestors 
had only honoured. Osiris and Isis became the tute- 
lary deities of Egypt. Serapis presided over the inun- 
dation ; Apis presaged abundance ; and the evil genius 
Typhon menaced destructive evils. Deeply impressed 
on their minds, it was difficult to erase these ideas 
without overthrowing the national religion. It may 
be, too, (for men are ever the same,) that the priests 
adroitly profited by this ignorance to make themselves 

E 2 



52 



EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



mediators between heaven and earth, and dispensers of 
the divine will, yet we ought to be circumspect in pre- 
suming to judge a body of the learned, who published 
the laws by which Athens profited, and raised so many 
useful and durable monuments. 

" "We must be cautious how we blame the Egyptian 
priesthood, when we reflect how true it is that sensible 
objects have more power over the multitude than all 
the precepts of wisdom ; so much so, that the Hebrews, 
though so well instructed, and kept so separate from 
the Egyptians, yet profiting by the absence of Moses, 
who waited on the mountain to receive the command- 
ments, forced Aaron to make them a golden calf. 
Reasoning impartially, we must perceive that it is 
equally difficult and dangerous to show mankind phi- 
losophical truth. 

" The greatest men of Greece and Rome, like the 
Egyptian priest, acknowledged only one God. Mytho- 
logy was to them a chain of allegories, veiling physical 
effects and natural causes, yet they bowed before the 
shrines of Jupiter, Pallas, and Yenus. Socrates alone 
had the boldness to exclaim against these fabulous 
deities, and Socrates was obliged to swallow poison. 
"We have a later instance in Galileo, who, after being 
obliged to beg pardon on his knees for having dared to 
speak the truth, and to announce a most important 
discovery, was persecuted for the remainder of his life, 
and died in exile. 

" These facts, with many more that might be cited, 
show that, if the Egyptian priests were culpable, we 
must not condemn them with too much rigour, for, in 
those distant ages, when they spoke but by types, 
idolatry took rapid strides, and it was scarcely possible 
to destroy it without destroying the national religion. 
The gods of Laban, which Rebecca stole, were hiero- 
glyphics, the signification of which was probably lost 



OF THE COSMOGONY. 



53 



to Laban, and he adored these images, because they 
descended to him from his forefathers. The same 
thing happened in Egypt, where hieroglyphics became 
the divinities of the people, when they could no longer 
comprehend their meaning. There was, therefore, but 
one way to extinguish superstition, and that was by 
the destruction of hieroglyphics ; but this sacrifice 
would have robbed the priests of their knowledge, as 
well as of the absolute empire they held over the mind. 
There are individuals sufficiently generous to renounce, 
from notions of pure benevolence, the seductive charms 
of power, but there never was a body of men capable 
of an effort so sublime." — Savory's Egypt^ Letter xxix. 



54 



Section II. 
THE HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

The acute and highly-civilized inhahitants of India 
have heen for many ages in possession of philosophical 
and scientific knowledge to a very great extent. This 
knowledge, like that of the Egyptians, has heen wrapped 
up in a thick envelope of fable, — so thick, indeed, as 
to defy the researches of all save the most learned in 
oriental manners and languages. Light has, however, 
from time to time heen thrown upon this intricate but 
interesting subject, and of late years the labours of 
Sir William Jones, of Mr. Wilford, Mr. Ward, Major 
Moor, and Mr. Colebrook, have rendered it accessible 
to the English reader. Still there are obscurities which 
remain to be cleared up, and the subject is far from 
having received that general attention which its im- 
portance demands. The knowledge that we have 
obtained of it gives us an additional and most valuable 
link in the chain of evidence, — that all systems of 
idolatrous religion, from the most elaborate to the most 
barbarous, exhibit so uniform an appearance that we 
may safely decide them to be branches from the same 
root; and what that root was, is an inquiry, whether 
philosophically or historically considered, of no small 
moment. Major Moor, in his Hindu Pantheon, remarks, 
" that it is particularly necessary to distinguish between 
the religion and the mythology of Hindustan," — a 
remark which, while ajrplicable to every similar sub- 
ject, is peculiarly true in this instance. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



55 



The first impression made on the mind by the con- 
templation of Indian superstition is the incalculable 
number of divinities, — they have been said in round 
numbers to amount to 30 millions. But when we 
reconsider the matter, and allow first for the philo- 
sophical doctrines, historical events, and astronomical 
facts, from which the poets have compiled their mytho- 
logy, representing as gods, abstract qualities, kings, 
stars, planets, and inventing for them suitable trains of 
attendants, — and when after this we find the same 
divinity worshipped under many names, with slight 
changes of attribute, and acknowledged to have had 
many incarnations, all of which are separately adored, 
we shall cease to accuse the Hindoos of worshipping 
more gods than other pagan nations. 

It is the opinion of the most eminent Eastern 
scholars, that there is no part of the Indian mythology 
which has not some hidden meaning, either philo- 
sophical, astronomical, or historical; and, apart from 
this personifying system, they acknowledge but one 
god. This great being, who is called Brahm, is never 
addressed in prayer or praise. It is to his embodied, 
or rather personified, attributes that all religious wor- 
ship is due. " Of that being," says the Yeda, " whose 
glory is so great, there is no image, — this is that invi- 
sible eternal being which illumines all, which delights 
all, from which all proceed, by which they live when 
born, and to which they must all return." It will be 
noticed that in this beautiful passage the supreme 
being is not spoken of as " hej" in fact, such an ap- 
proximation to human nature would seem blasphemy 
to the mind of a Hindoo. When speaking of Brahm, 
the Indian priests exhibit a more rational and correct 
spirit of philosophy than could be expected from men 
living in the practice of idolatry. Nothing can be 
more strictly in accordance with truth than their doc- 



56 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



trine, — " Worship and sacrifice are good, because they 
are pleasing to God; it is from this they derive their 
goodness; they are not good in themselves, and there- 
lore pleasing to him." Saving this article of their 
creed, — the belief in the one self-existent eternal Deity, 
— the rest is all allegory. The attributes of God are 
considered as threefold, — creating, preserving, destroy- 
ing ; and from the personification of these three powers 
arises the very curious Hindoo Trinity. Of this, the three 
persons are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, 
Siva the destroyer. These have given names to sects, 
each placing the object of their own worship in the 
chief place, and deeming the others but manifestations 
of the divine power. That which took its appellation 
from Brahma has long since become extinct; war and 
persecution have destroyed his followers, overthrown 
his temples, and rooted up his altars; and though a 
distinguished object of religious worship, his image is 
always placed in the temples of Vishnu and Siva. 
The Vaishnava, or worshippers of Vishnu, are now the 
most numerous in India; the Saivas (the adorers of 
Siva) form, however, no inconsiderable part of the 
community. 

We shall now, as far as it is possible to consider 
them separately, touch on the history of Brahma ; but, 
in order to do this, we must first notice that most inte- 
resting personage of eastern mythology, Narayana. 
It has been already noticed, that of Brahm there are 
no images, — no temples: he is considered too awful to 
be addressed by mortals, too sacred to be made the 
subject of poetical romance. But the Hindoos are too 
devoted to allegory to forbear touching in some way 
even this forbidden subject; and hence, by a distinction 
not easy to be entertained by a European mind, they 
have personified " the spirit of God" under the name 
Narayana. It is worthy of note, that the name 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



57 



Narayana signifies "moving on the water." While 
thus moving upon the water, resting upon the thousand- 
headed serpent Sesha, from the navel of Narayana 
sprang the lotos, and from the lotos, Brahma. It 
seems best to give this fable in a form more unmixed 
than it will afterwards appear, because it serves here 
to introduce this creating power as an emanation of 
the spirit of God, in which light the more enlightened 
among the Hindoos wish it to be considered. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE HINDOO TRIAD, BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA. 

We shall not be surprised to find these three powers of 
the Hindoo triad continually coinciding. That the 
same power which in the first instance created the 
world, still upholds it, soon appeared to the oriental 
philosopher as a necessary truth. Hence they decided 
that Brahma and Vishnu are the same person. They 
perceived, also, the indestructibility of matter; that 
those changes which took place in the visible creation, 
were but re-creations under the semblance of destruc- 
tion; that the tree died, but that a forest sprung up 
from its seed. Aided by the doctrine of transmigration, 
they boldly predicated the same of mankind; and de- 
claring that destruction was but creation in another 
form, determined Brahma and Siva to be the same. 
Brahma is likewise considered as a personification of 
matter, and of the earth, — Yishnu, of spirit and of 
water, — Siva, of time and of fire. As the creator, 
Brahma is represented with four heads, with which he 
looks over the four quarters of his work, and also 
because of the four seasons. Keeping in view this 



58 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



manifold character, we shall see how the philosopher 
might join with the poet in declaring that all material 
forms pre-existed in him : he has also four arms, in one 
of which he usually holds a hook, probably one of the 
Yedas, — in another, a sacrificial spoon, — in a third, a 
rosary, — -and in the fourth, a sacrificial vase. This is 
not invariably the case, but so generally as to make 
variations rare. His colour is dark-red, typifying the 
matter of the earth, and also fire, and the sun, in which 
he respectively coincides with Yishnu and Siva. Pro- 
ceeding to the creation of the world, he peopled it by 
causing the tribe or caste of the Brahmans " to spring 
from his mouth, — the chetri, or soldiers, from his 
arm, — the vaisya, or mercantile class, from his thigh,— 
the sudra, or servile caste, from his foot from his eye 
came the sun, from his mind the moon; " he created 
all worlds." 

The extravagant tales which are to be found in some 
books as to the dimensions and shape of the earth, — 
its mountains millions of miles high, its seas millions 
of miles across, and its inhabitants, some with square 
faces, some with triangular faces, and so on, are not to 
be considered otherwise than as the fancies of the 
authors, as the French would call them, " contes a rire." 
The Hindoos have been long aware of the true system 
of astronomy: they give the same names to the signs 
of their zodiac that we do, and have been very expert 
at astronomical observations, from periods during which 
science was unknown in Europe. 

The sect who worshipped Brahma chiefly have been 
long extinct, but Yishnu and Siva are each extolled by 
their followers, as being respectively God. All the 
divine attributes are ascribed to them, and Brahma is 
said to have sprung from Yishnu, as we have already 
described him as springing from Narayana; yet, if 
pressed on the subject, a Hindoo will acknowledge the 



BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA. 



59 



supremacy of Brahm, and that the three whose names 
head this chapter are hut his attributes. Of Brahm 
the sun is the chief emblem, for he sends light and 
warmth through creation, as does Brahm, by sending 
forth his animated or vital rays, which rays are the 
souls of animated beings, and which will one day all 
return to himself. All else that is said of God is but 
maya, or delusion. This word maya, delusion, is much 
used in Hindoo philosophy, and serves to get rid 
of any contradiction or absurdity whatever. 

The history of Brahma is so mixed with that of 
other divinities, in which he usually plays a subordinate 
part, that it will be better treated of under other heads. 
He must not be dismissed without noticing that the 
tribe or caste of the Brahmans derive their name, not 
from Brahma, but from Brahm, and they are so called 
because their duties are principally of a religious nature. 
A more popular object of adoration is Yishnu, the 
second person of the triad, and the personified attribute 
of preservation. The act of creation is past, those of 
preservation and destruction are still going forward; 
from which consideration we derive an additional rea- 
son for the comparatively trifling adoration paid to 
Brahma. Yishnu, whose avataras, or incarnations, are 
the favourite subjects of Hindoo poetry, when repre- 
sented in his own person, is depicted with four arms, in 
one of which he holds a bow, — in another, an arrow, — 
in a third, the chakra, a sort of quoit, — in the fourth, 
the chank, a shell of magic power: he rides upon his 
peculiar vehicle, Garuda, (a man with an eagle's head, 
wings, and claws,) and is generally accompanied by his 
consort, the beautiful Laksmi; when thus attended, 
the arrow is laid aside, and with the disengaged arm 
he presses his companion to his side. As the mytho- 
logical representation of water, he is depicted of a 
dark-blue colour, gorgeously attired, and majestically 



60 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



sailing through the atmosphere over which he presides. 
Those who would confound Yishnu with Narayana will 
do well to ohserve that the latter is represented with 
two arms only, and without any of the usual accom- 
paniments of Yishnu; coinciding only in the dark-hlue 
colour. With regard to the figure called Laksmi, 
sitting at his feet, it will be explained in the succeeding 
chapter. Whatever may be said of the paintings in 
which the conception is embodied, it is certainly one 
of the most sublime efforts of Eastern genius to imagine 
the personification of the Infinite Spirit reposing on the 
bosom of Eternity, and attended only by his own per- 
vading energy, sending forth from the recesses of his 
contemplation the fiat of creation. 

But if the history and worship of Yishnu be inte- 
resting from its romantic splendour, the severe and 
awful character of Siva, the third person in this triad, 
is not less so. As the destructive attribute exhibited 
in a personal form, he shares the general worship paid 
throughout India to Brahm, and is himself the object 
of especial adoration to a great number of the inha- 
bitants of that country. Like Yishnu, he has a thou- 
sand names, among which, Rudra, Mahesa, and Maha- 
deva, are the chief; and by this last, as his most usual 
appellation, he will be called in future, in the course of 
this work. He is represented as of a w T hite colour, 
with light hair, and riding a bull, which is also white ; 
his countenance is calm, but severe; and the manner 
in which he is adorned, testifies the fearful light in 
which he is viewed; round his neck he wears a neck- 
lace of skulls; he wields the trisula, or trident, and the 
battle-axe ; sometimes he is depicted with eight arms, 
and then he bears in one a gory head, said to be a head 
of Brahma, — in another, an antelope, — in a third, a 
cup filled with blood, — the fourth and fifth bear an 
hour-glass, or, perhaps, the Indian sacrificial drum, 



BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA. 



61 



which looks very like an hour-glass, — another a flame, 
a cluh, a spear, or some warlike instrument, — the trisula 
and the battle-axe occupying the other two. This is 
not invariable: he is, however, seldom represented 
without some of these attributes. But that by which 
he may be always distinguished is a third eye placed 
vertically in the middle of the forehead. His hair is 
usually gathered up in a knot, and from it a fountain 
is spouting, from which proceeds the river Ganges, 
hence called the daughter of Mahadeva. Snakes are 
twined around his arms, legs, and hair, in the shape of 
fantastic ornaments; he wears earrings of snakes, and 
this even when represented in the mildest form. As 
the presiding power of reproduction, he is typified by a 
sign called linga. As to this sign, we shall have a few 
words to say in another place ; it is here only noticed 
as being so universally attributed to Mahadeva and his 
consort, Parvati, as to identify their images wherever 
found. A very curious mode of representing him is 
conjointly with his consort, Parvati, in one person, one 
half being male, and invested with the attributes of 
Mahadeva, and one half female, adorned with those of 
Parvati; this joint divinity is called Ardha-nari. The 
third eye of this deity is intended to personate the sun, 
with whom, however, Yishnu and Brahma coincide, as 
well as Mahadeva. 

Parvati is the moon, and a specimen of the manner 
in which mythological fables have been framed from 
astronomical facts, is shown in the allegory by which 
the cause of eclipses is set forth. The intervention of 
the moon between the sun and the earth, by which the 
light of the former is obscured, is told thus: — Parvati, 
on one occasion, placed her hand over the eyes of her 
consort, — those eyes from which issued the day. 
Wrapped in impenetrable darkness, and deprived of 
the genial influence of the sun-beams, the heavens and 



62 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



the earth were in consternation, when Mahadeva, 
causing a third eye to start from his forehead, removed 
the general terror. Parvati withdrew her hands, but 
the drops of perspiration which fell from the head of 
the agitated divinity caused the sacred river Ganges. 
Mahadeva is seldom seen without the river flowing 
from his head, and never without the additional eye: 
he bears on his forehead a crescent, and is often 
crowned with the linga. 

We shall close this account of Mahadeva by a relation 
of one of his most celebrated exploits, and this because 
it will afford an opportunity of introducing a few 
remarks as to the principle of Hindoo worship. 

A demon named Tarika, who reigned as a sove- 
reign upon earth, and from his capital city, Tripura, 
was called Tripurasura, (Sura is the Sanskrit 
name for a demon hostile to the gods,) compelled 
Brahma, by the force of penance and austerities, to 
promise him any boon he should demand. The auste- 
rities and penances which he performed are thus de- 
scribed in one of the Puranas. Each penance lasted one 
hundred years. 1. He stood on one foot, holding the 
other, and both hands up towards heaven, with his eyes 
fixed on the sun. 2. He stood on one great toe. 3. He 
took for sustenance nothing but water. 4. He reduced 
himself to an aerial diet. 5. He was immersed in the 
water. 6. He was buried in the earth. 7« He re- 
mained in a fire. 8. He stood on his head, with his 
feet upwards. 9. He stood on one hand. 10. He 
hung by his hands on a tree ; and lastly, he hung on a 
tree with his head downwards. During the eleven 
hundred years so employed, he continued in undeviating 
adoration. 

Now the gods very well knew to what end all this 
devotion tended, and they also knew that they could 
not hinder its accomplishment, or refuse to grant the 



BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND SIVA. 



63 



boon, however extravagant, which the devotee de- 
manded. They remained, therefore, for ] 100 years in 
fear and trembling; and w r hen the period was complete, 
Tripurasura demanded unrivalled strength, and an in- 
capacity of death, save from the hand of Mahadeva's 
son; but in order that there should be such a son, it 
was necessary for Mahadeva to become incarnate, an 
occurrence not deemed very probable. Trusting that 
this would never be the case, Tripurasura became so 
arrogant that he caused all the gods to yield up to him 
their powers and their treasures,— all save Brahma, 
Vishnu, and Mahadeva, who, as personifications of the 
three divine attributes, could of course yield to no 
created being. The sun gave no heat, the moon re- 
mained always at full, the winds blew as the demon 
dictated, and, in short, he became lord of the world. 
At length, Kartikya, whom some call the son of Maha- 
deva, and others an incarnation of Mahadeva himself, 
appeared on earth, and, after a terrific conflict of ten 
days, destroyed the oppressive daitya, and restored the 
w r orld to tranquillity. Kartikya w r as thrown from 
heaven, while yet imperfectly formed, into the Ganges, 
whence he arose after some time, endowed with super- 
human beauties. Six daughters of as many rajahs, the 
wives it would seem of the Rishis, coming at the time 
to bathe, each claimed him for her son, and offered her 
breast. Kartikya forthwith assumed six heads, and 
w r as suckled by them all ; hence he is called the son of 
six mothers, whereas in point of fact he never had any 
mother at all, being an emanation from Mahadeva. 
Kartikya is the god of war, but is seldom represented 
with warlike weapons. 

To return to the story of Tripurasura: it will be 
seen from that anecdote that austerities and penance 
have an actual and definable value, independently 
of the motives with which they are performed; and 



64 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



indeed some of the most remarkable personages in 
Hindoo fable are those who have by such means ob- 
tained power. We shall see presently a case in point, 
in the dwarf avatar of Vishnu ; and, by finding the 
supremacy of this triple personification still preserved, 
even when some being becomes sovereign of heaven, 
earth, and hell, we are led to form some idea of the 
spiritual nature of the Hindoo triad ; in fact, it is only 
by viewing them as the embodied attributes of the 
Supreme Being that they can be supposed exempt from 
the power of their own devotees*. 

We have noticed that Mahadeva, Vishnu, and 
Brahma, all typify the sun, yet, in the fable just re- 
lated, we find the sun under the command of Tripura- 
sura, and Mahadeva destroying him. The inconsist- 
ency arises from this — that having, in accordance with 
philosophy, begun an allegory, the poets often finish it 
in accordance only with fancy, so that the latter part 
does not coincide with the former. Two beings may 
be ascertained to have been originally the same, but, 
being invested with different attributes, they become 
mixed up with different allegories, and are thus brought 
into unexpected collision. This subject will be treated 
of at greater length when we come to consider the 
coincidence of different systems of mythology. 

We must not quit this fable and close the chapter, 
without noticing that Mahadeva and Kartikya are per- 
fectly distinct in other fables ; it is only in this that a 
little doubt occurs as to which was the destroyer of 
Tripurasura. Southey's Curse of Kehama will be read 
with profit and delight by all who wish to know the 

* In the tale of Ravana they are, by a singular inconsis- 
tency, introduced as slaves under other names, and, conse- 
quently, Vishnu, though a slave to the power of Ravana, 
descended from glory, and assumed the form of Rama, to 
rescue himself and his fellow gods. This is an oversight in 
the poet. 



OF THE SACTIS. 



65 



efficacy of penance and sacrifice in the Hindoo religion. 
The notes contain almost a body of oriental mythology, 
and the tale is told in such strains as are not easily 
forgotten. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE SACTIS, OR PERVADING ENERGIES OF 
THE GODS. 

Each of the three powers which have been already 
mentioned, is figured to have his consort, that is to 
say, a personification of his actual power ; for, in some 
systems of Hindoo theogony, the consort, sacti, or per- 
vading energy, is made to proceed from the body of the 
the god, as Eve did from that of Adam. In short, as 
Brahma, Yishnu, and Mahadeva, are personifications 
of creating, preserving, destroying power, so their sactis 
are personifications of the several instances of their 
action. This will be found to be a correct account of 
their origin, but, having once introduced a person, — no 
matter by what process, — the Eastern poets will never 
let it go without a string of adventures, by which ad- 
ventures it does, as has been already noticed, become 
mixed with other allegories, and produces difficulties 
not to be unravelled. 

Of these sactis. there is one only who is not the 
consort of a person of the triad ; that one is Aindri, the 
sacti of Indra, and it seems probable that Indra is only 
so attended when found to coincide with Yishnu. 
These sactis, or consorts, are those of Brahma, known 
by the names of Brahmini, but chiefly Saras wati ; of 
Yishnu, called Laksmi ; of Mahadeva, called, according 
as she is considered with regard to the attributes of her 

F 



66 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



lord, Parvati, Bhavani, Devi, Durga, and Kali. The 
name Narayana is fitted with a feminine termination, 
and made into a sacti. Saraswati, then, is the spirit 
of creation in action, and hence, on account of the 
creative genius required, she is the goddess of poetry, 
of painting, of sculpture, of eloquence, and music ; she 
is the inventress of the Sanskrit language, and of all 
those sciences which writing perpetuates. Falsehood 
in judicial swearing may be expiated by sacrifices to 
her, and to this, Moor attributes the general disregard 
of truth prevalent among the Hindoos. Images of 
Saraswati are very rare, but in paintings she is usually 
represented as riding a peacock, and holding in her 
hand a lyre, on which she is sometimes made playing ; 
the lotos, and a scroll and cup, are sometimes given 
her, and occasionally she is made four-handed, and 
displaying them all. She is usually dressed in red, the 
colour of her lord, and her peacock is blue. 

Like Brahma, Saraswati is not honoured with 
temples and altars; her pictures are found in the 
shrines of other gods, and, among so intellectual a 
people as the Hindoos, meet with great respect. 

Laksmi, the consort of Yishnu, the goddess of 
beauty, of grace, of riches, and of pleasure, could not 
fail of being a popular object of worship ; she is pic- 
tured of transcendant loveliness, of a dark blue colour, 
like Vishnu, apart from whom she is not often seen. 
She is very much adorned, and forms a favourite sub- 
ject for Indian painting, as well as poetry. The wor- 
shippers of Yishnu consider her as the mother of the 
world, and call her Ada Maya, Her history consists 
chiefly of her incarnations, in which she accompanied 
her lord, and which will be noticed in the proper place. 

We now proceed to a goddess of far more conse- 
quence, Parvati, by which name she is usually called 
when considered as the consort of Mahadcva, and an 



OF THE SACTIS.- 



67 



inhabitant of the celestial mountain Kailasa, whereon 
Siva dwells. In this character she is the genial god- 
dess of fecundity ; exquisite in beauty ; she is wor- 
shipped as presiding over marriage, and (more properly 
than Laksmi) as the mother of all created things. It 
was in this attractive character that she put her hand 
over the eyes of Mahadeva, and caused the eclipse that 
occasioned so much consternation. Her exclusive wor- 
shippers, (and in this shape she has many, or rather, 
worshippers of Mahadeva, who recognise in her the 
active principle of her lord,) are called sactas, more 
properly yonijas. The worship paid to her is of a 
mystic and typical character, and is paid to her only 
as the universal mother, and the principle of fecundity. 
There is a right-handed mode of conducting it, and a 
left-handed, that is, some sects adore her in a decorous, 
and others in a licentious, manner. When separated 
from her lord, and viewed as the active operation of 
divine justice, she assumes a stern and fearful cha- 
racter ; still resplendent in beauty, she is invested with 
the insignia of destruction, she wears the necklace of 
skulls, and the bracelets of serpents ; she rides the 
white bull proper to Mahadeva, or sometimes her own 
tiger, and has ten arms. 

The fable in which her first adventure, and indeed 
origin, is given is this : a certain spirit, named Mahi- 
shashur, after a fierce contest in the shape of a buffalo 
with Indra, defeated him, and expelled him and his 
attendant spirits from their paradise. These van- 
quished spirits, after walking the earth for awhile, 
assemble together, and resolve to lay their grievances 
before Vishnu and Mahadeva. Conducted by Brahma, 
they were introduced into their presence, and told the 
tale of their sufferings: they were heard with com- 
passion, and so vehement was the anger of the deities 
against Mahishashur, that a flame issued from the 

F 2 



63 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



mouths of the gods, which joined in forming a goddess of 
inexpressible beauty, with ten arms, and in each a diffe- 
rent weapon. This was a transfiguration of Parvati, 
and was called Durga. This goddess was sent against 
the demon, and furnished with a lion to ride on, a 
present from the Himmalaya mountain, she attacks 
the usurper. Gifted with the power of changing his 
form, he long eluded her attacks, till at last, in his old 
shape of a buffalo, the new divinity planted her foot 
on his head, and severed it at a blow. Immediately, a 
human body darted from the headless animal, and 
aimed a fearful blow at the goddess ; but the blow was 
warded off by the paw of the lion, and Durga put an 
end to the combat by piercing the monster to the heart 
with a spear. 

This is an allegory of no very difficult solution; 
Mahishashur is a personification of vice, and that which 
conquers vice must be virtue, not contemplative, but 
active. Hence Durga, who proceeds from all the 
gods, is active virtue. As to the similarity, or rather 
identity, of this and other fables with those to be found 
in more western systems, this is not the place to con- 
sider it, but it will receive due notice in its season. 

It is difficult to distinguish between the character 
and attributes of Parvati under the name of Durga, and 
under that of Devi ; the latter is more common, it 
signifies goddess, as Deva does god, and the appellation 
Maha is not unfrequently applied. Mahadevi, then, 
signifies great goddess, as Mahadeva does great god. 
Devi is almost always a terrific deity, sometimes she is 
represented with and sometimes without the necklace 
of skulls, but rarely without some weapons of war. 
She had some peaceful occupations, and, among others, 
that attributed by the Romans to Lucina ; but perhaps 
this is more proper to Anna Purna or Anpurna, another 
form and name of Parvati ; it signifies the dispenser of 



OP THE SACTIS. 



69 



food, and she is a common household divinity in the 
Mahratta country. She is there represented with a 
large spoon or ladle. As Devi, however, she is more 
lofty, and in many pictures, Mahadeva, Yishnu, and 
Brahma, are adoring her. Devi is the goddess, to 
propitiate whose favour the ascetics of India perform 
austerities so remarkable. 

In the fifth volume of the Asiatic Researches, an 
account is given of a person who had made a vow to 
continue for twenty-four years with his arms above his 
head, but he died before the completion of the term. 
Major Moor saw him, and describes him thus : — " His 
arms had fallen quite shrivelled on his elbows, the 
upper arms being perpendicular, the fore arms horizon- 
tal ; his clenched fingers falling on the opposite elbow, 
so that the fore arms and the upper arms being nearly 
at right angles, they formed three sides of a square 
over his head. When I saw him, he had, I think, been 
twelve years in that position, and his arms were of 
course immovably fixed, but he told me that, at the 
expiration of the time of his vow, he expected to 
restore their functions by certain medicines and fric- 
tions, accompanied by the superior potency of cere- 
monies and sacrifices. He was attended by several 
disciples and servants, and travelled very respectably 
in a palky, with suitable attendants, and was of course 
treated everywhere with great attention ; all pious 
persons feeling happy to contribute to his conveniences. 
His nails were very long and crooked, or spirally 
curved ; his hair and beard were also very long, and 
were plaited and bound up together on his head. He 
wore no clothing, but a slight cloth round his middle, 
nor did his disciples, who were mostly very stout hand- 
some young men. Others raise their legs over their 
heads." " I once," says Moor, " saw a man who had 
been in this position many years ; his shrivelled legs 



70 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



had fallen upon his neck ; his posteriors, if they could 
now be called so, were in front under his chin, and he 
sat on his curved spine. Such penance, (of which we 
have seen eleven other species attributed to the demon 
Tripurasura,) are called Tapeswa, and there are in all 
eighteen kinds/' 

This consideration leads us to another and more 
tremendous form of Parvati, namely, that of Kali. Here 
she has a great variety of representations, but the em- 
blems of destruction are common to all; sometimes as 
a most hideous and loathsome, but still terrific, being, 
surrounded by serpents, with hair erect, and a circlet 
of flames round the head : sometimes fearfully beautiful, 
her four hands filled by dissevered heads, which she 
holds by the hair, and her tigers looking on fiercely, as 
though eager to snatch the prey. 

In the present age, human sacrifices are no longer 
allowed ; when they were, they were offered to Kali. 
Men only, of twenty-five years of age, were offered to 
this sanguinary divinity, and before the victim was 
struck down, these words are directed to be recited, 
— " Let the sacrificer first repeat the name Kali, thrice, 
then let him say, Hail, Kali, Kali ! hail Devi, hail god- 
dess of thunder, iron-sceptred, hail! fierce Kali, Kali 
cut, cut, slay, destroy the hateful, bind, bind, secure, 
cut with this axe, drink blood, destroy, destroy. — Salu- 
tation to Kali." This sacrifice was called the nera- 
medka ; and it is not a little curious, that an enemy 
might be immolated by proxy, substituting a bull or a 
goat, and calling it by the name of the intended vic- 
tim. But Kali has a still further meaning; she is 
eternity; as such she is thus described : — " Maha Kali, 
black and dreadful, is encompassed by symbols of 
destruction ; two of her hands seem employed in the 
work of death ; of the other two, one seems pointing 
downwards, alluding to the universal havoc which sur- 



OF THE SACTIS. 



71 



rounds her, whilst the other, pointing upwards, seems 
to promise the regeneration of nature by a new creation." 
— Pater son, 

Now this seems to imply Time, not Eternity; nor 
does it very well agree, except upon this supposition, 
with the following remark. When Kal, or Time, shall 
have devoured all things, the three personified powers 
will cease to exist; and one of the Puranas has the 
singular and valuable passage : "Kal, devouring himself, 
shall cease to be, and nothing shall remain but Brahm 
the eternal one/' 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF CELESTIAL SPIRITS, AND OF DEMONS. 

There are some individuals whose names are so fre- 
quently met with in Hindoo mythology, that it will be 
necessary, before we pass on to speak of the other gods, 
to devote a little time to these spirits. Among these 
are eminent, the Bishis, Munis, or Menus, for they 
are said to be the same ; they are seven in number, and 
are the children of Brahma; from this circumstance 
they are called Brahmidicas. 

The first in the list of Menus is Swayambhuva, who 
seems to have been Brahma in a human form, and is 
esteemed as the father of men. In some writings he 
is called Adimi, and is said to correspond with the 
Adam of the Hebrew scriptures. This subject will be 
noticed again in its proper place. Swayambhuva, who 
ever, is but a personification of the course of human 
life, for he is successively, under various names, ruling 
over every age. 



72 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



From the beginning to the end of time, there will be 
five great periods, called Calpas*, each of which is pre- 
ceded by a renovation of the world, and a general flood. 
Each Calpa is governed by its own particular deity, in 
the following order: Devi Surya (the sun), Ganesa, 
Vishnu, and Iswara, or Mahadeva: Brahma has no 
particular Calpa, his influence extending over the 
whole, and preserving it through the power of Vishnu, 
as he will finally destroy it through that of Mahadeva. 
To Swayambhuva were born three daughters, for whom 
Brahma created three husbands, named Oardama, 
Daksha, and Ruchi. Cardama is acknowledged to be 
Mahadeva, Daksha to be Brahma, and hence it would 
seem that Ruchi must be Vishnu; here we have three 
other persons filling the places of these deities, and yet 
enjoying an independent existence. We shall presently 
speak of Daksha; meantime we observe, that as human 
life rarely extends to a hundred years, and all mankind 
may be supposed to have died off who were alive at 
the beginning of that period, some time before its close, 
we find Swayambhuva dying every hundred years. 

The genealogy of all these persons is involved in 
much obscurity, and it is very difficult to say who they 
were, or from whom they sprung. 

The Hishis were much esteemed for their holiness, 
and seem to have a distinguished place among the 
immortals. They are adored as the seven bright stars 
in the constellation Ursa Major; and there is an astro- 
nomical fable connected with them that must not be 
omitted; the Hishis were married to seven beautiful 
and starry brides, to wit, the Pleiades. Now there 
are only six of these, and the business of the fable is 
to show that they were once seven, and wbatis become 
of the other one. " Agni, the ardent deity of fire," says 

* "We are now, according to Hindoo chronology, in the 
fourth calpa, whereof Vishnu is ruler. 



OF CELESTIAL SPIRITS. 



73 



Moor, Ci was charitably disposed to communicate some of 
his warmth to these ladies, then dwelling with their 
husbands in the arctic circle. His addresses were 
without the intended success ; for Swaha, his wife, 
assuming in turn the shape and appearance of all the 
Pleiades, listened to Agni's amorous tale. This ma- 
noeuvre afterwards reached the ears of the Rishis, who 
did not, it seems, credit the ingenious device of Swaha, 
for they not only dismissed their wives, but, like great 
bears as they were, drove them out of the arctic circle." 
What became of them then, " the old books show not," 
but they must have found their way to the earth, for 
we afterwards find them nursing young Kartikya when 
he came out of the Ganges, as has been already men- 
tioned; and he, in gratitude for their services, restored 
them to heaven, and gave them a warmer place. 

One of the seven, Arundhati, either through her 
superior reputation, or the better sense of her husband, 
whose name, Vasishta, deserves remembrance, was not 
suspected on this unlucky occasion; she remained with 
her husband, and makes one of the smaller stars in 
that splendid constellation. It is a poetical and a 
happy idea of Hindoo poets, to represent these two 
stars as presiding over conjugal happiness, and some 
very graceful allusions are made to them in the Ra- 
mayana. 

The first of the Menus has been spoken of as agree- 
ing with Adam; the last does with Noah, in the 
opinion of Sir William Jones; hence they may be sup- 
posed to coincide with the antediluvian patriarchs. 

We shall close our remarks on the Menus with 
giving an account of the creation preserved in a very 
curious treatise. " Rise up, Rudra, and form man 
to govern the world. Thus spake Brahma, and Rudra 
obeyed; but the men he made were fiercer than tigers, 



74 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



Laving nothing in them but the destructive quality; so 
they soon destroyed one another, for anger was their 
only passion. Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra, then 
joined their several powers, and created the Munis." 
Besides these, we hear of the Pitris, an equally myste- 
rious class of beings. One passage touching them is 
introduced on account of the astronomical knowledge 
it displays; it is from the Institutes of Menu, chap. vi. 
v. 66. " A month of mortals is a day and a night of 
the Pitris, or patriarchs inhabiting the moon/' 

Daksha demands a few words, before we proceed to 
the Soors and Asoors. He is Brahma in a human 
shape, and had a great dispute with Mahadeva, in his 
human shape, but the latter, being of a revengeful 
disposition, punished the god Brahma for the faults of 
the man Daksha, and cut off one of his heads ; so that 
Brahma, who had five heads before, now had but four; 
and the severed head is frequently seen in the hand of 
Devi, to whom Mahadeva presented it. Throughout 
the whole story of the Hindoo deities, Mahadeva and 
Daksha are continually quarrelling, and the former has 
always the advantage. 

The Surs, or Suras, or Soors, are angelic beings of a 
benevolent description; they are the children of Diti 
and Kasyapa. The Asoors, or Asuras, are malignant 
beings of doubtful origin. Danava, or devils, and 
Dewtah, or Devata, gods, are terms applied with very 
little accuracy. 

The Apsaras must not be forgotten; " beautiful 
maidens, in number no less than six hundred millions, 
of resplendent and celestial form, adorned with glorious 
ornaments, and endowed with youth, sweetness, beauty, 
and every grace. Their female attendants are innu- 
merable, but inasmuch as they had not received legal 
purification, neither gods nor danavas received these 



OF CELESTIAL SPIRITS. 



75 



damsels in marriage ; and they do not appear to have 
been endowed with virtue equal to their beauty and 
interesting appearance." 

Returning again to the Rishis, we find them the 
guardians of a certain cow, named Surabhi, whose 
orio-in we shall see when we come to discuss the ava- 

o 

tars of Yishnu. This cow had the power of granting 
any boon to the suppliant, and it is on account of her 
virtues that her descendants are so much honoured in 
India. It is common for Brahmins and others to feed 
a cow before they take their own breakfast, and they 
ejaculate, as they present her with the food, " Daughter 
of Surabhi, framed of five elements, auspicious, pure, 
holy, sprung from the sun, accept this food given by 
me;" and some writers mention a cow worshipped as 
Laksmi, and depicted as white, with a woman's head, 
and three tails. She is made in the act of giving suck 
to a calf. This will be a little illustrated by another 
poetic fiction. 

Prithivi is the goddess of the earth. Brahma, under 
the name Yiswacarma (the artificer of the universe), 
moulded the earth, and it became Prithivi, that is, 
conspicuous. Her husband is Yishnu, incarnate under 
the name of Prithu. The tale is thus told: Yena, an 
impious and tyrannical prince, was cursed by the 
Brahmins, and consequently died without issue. To 
remedy this, his left arm was opened, and churned with 
a stick till it produced a son, who, proving as wicked 
as his father, was set aside, and the right arm churned, 
which also produced a son ; this son, named Prithu, 
proved to be an incarnation of Yishnu (it may be 
observed in passing, that the operation of churning has 
very extraordinary results when resorted to by the per- 
sonages of Indian fable: we shall have other specimens 
of it bye and bye). Gods and men came to make 
obeisance to Prithu, and to celebrate his appearance 



76 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



upon earth. He married Prithivi, who was a form of 
the goddess Laksmi, and represents the earth, who 
refused to supply man with food; in order to compel 
her to do so, Prithu was forced to heat and wound her, 
when she, assuming the form of a cow, ascended to 
Mount Mem to complain to the gods. When they 
heard the whole case, they sided with Prithu: the 
earth reluctantly submitted, and since that time man- 
kind have been permitted to heat and wound her with 
ploughs, spades, and harrows, till she yields them 
food. In the form of a cow, Prithivi was milked by 
Swayambhuva, who was by Prithu employed to do so. 
Now here we have this cow (for Surabhi is the earth, 
or at least, in several places of the Puranas is so repre- 
sented,) not only coinciding with the earth, but also 
with the goddess Laksmi, the divinity presiding over 
riches and beneficence. Hence we see the identity of 
Prithivi, Surabhi, the earth, Laksmi; and the catalogue 
might be extended considerably further. 

Alluding to the various beings who have been men- 
tioned in this chapter, Moor says, — " Thus we find the 
Indian invisible world well peopled; but there are 
several other tribes of mythological beings introduced 
into the complicated machinery of Hindoo poetics. 
There is a race of pigmies, no bigger than a man's 
thumb, called Balakelya, of whom sixty thousand were 
produced from the hair of Brahma's body; and ano- 
ther race of Lilliputian sages that sprung from his 
nails. All these beings are, by name, birth, parentage, 
and education, — life, death, burial, &c., especially 
chronicled in the Puranas; and one!s brain is almost 
bewildered in endeavouring, as they ever and anon 
recur, to trace their genealogy, character, connexions, 
and a long train of et ccteras, combined with their 
allegorical origin, progress, and termination." — Hindoo 
Pan Ui con. 



4 i 



CHAPTER V. 

OF GAXESA, AND THE OTHER CHILDREN OF 3IAHADEVA, 

AND OF INDRA. 

Ganesa is the Hindoo god of policy and prudence ; he 
is the reputed son of Mahadeva and Parvati, though, 
properly speaking, he was the offspring of the latter 
only ; he is represented with the head of an elephant, 
on account of the sagacity of that animal, and his 
vahan, or vehicle, is a rat, a creature deemed in India 
peculiarly endowed with prudence. His history is thus 
given in the Siv Purana : Parvati framed Ganesa of 
fair proportions, at which Mahadeva was jealous and 
displeased; Ganesa was his mothers champion, and 
always stood forth in her cause against Brahma, Yishnu, 
and even Mahadeva himself. On one occasion, Yishnu 
and Ganesa fought, and the latter would have been 
victorious, but for the interposition of Mahadeva, who 
cut off Ganesa's head. Grieved at the loss of her son, 
Parvati refused to be comforted, and proceeded to such 
austerities, as threatened to derange the destinies of 
the universe, 4 when the gods determined to restore 
Ganesa, and to place on his body the first head that 
could be found; the right one was lost; the head found 
turned out to be that of an elephant. Ganesa is repre- 
sented as four-armed, and furnished with the trident 
of his reputed father: it is to be observed also, that he 
is not unfrequently seen with the third eye, perhaps 
as often as not. 

The adventures of this deity usually partake of 
a fraudful character; and it is rather as the god 
of cunning than as that of wisdom or sound policy, 
that he is represented. He is generally invoked by a 
Hindoo, of whatever sect, in the outset of any business; 



78 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



if lie build a house, an image of Ganesa is set up near 
the spot; if he write a book, he invokes Ganesa at the 
beginning; the same at the top of a letter; he is 
addressed before a journey, and for the protection of 
travellers, a stone, representing an elephant's head, 
rudely carved, is frequently set up where cross-roads 
meet: oil and red ochre is daubed over it, and it is 
considered an act of piety to deck it with flowers. In 
or over bankers' shops, the god of prudence is seen, 
and India has few divinities so much worshipped. In 
the Carnatic he is called Pollear. 

Major Moor, in the Asiatic Researches, gives an 
account of a hereditary avatar of this god; this living 
deity resided at Chichur, near Poona. " Ganesa, 
pleased with the piety of a certain Gussayn, named 
Muraba, rewarded him by incarnating himself in his 
person, and covenanting that the divinity should 
descend in his children to the seventh generation, em- 
powering them to work miracles, and, in a limited 
degree, to look into futurity : with this divine patrimony 
is inherited the guardianship of a sacred stone, a type 
of the deity. At the period of my visit to this holy 
person, five generations had passed away; the sixth 
inheritor, Gabagi Deva, has since died, and it is agreed 
by the Brahmins that the avatara will end with the life 
of the present piece of inspired carnality, unless perpe- 
tuated or renewed by a further manifestation of the 
divine will." 

The history of Kartikya, the younger brother of 
Ganesa, has been already related. Kartikya is the 
generalissimo of the celestial armies, and rides a pea- 
cock; he is called the brother of Ganesa, though the 
latter is the offspring solely of Parvati, the former of 
Mahadeva alone. 

Bhairava is either a son or an incarnation of Maha- 
deva; the word Bhairava signifies terrible, and this 



OF GANESA. 



79 



personage, and Yira Bhadra, another son or incarna- 
tion of Mahadeva, are much spoken of as great con- 
querors. The former is painted of a dark-blue colour, 
that of Vishnu, not white, the colour of Mahadeva ; 
but there does not seem much similarity in the fierce 
and vindictive Bhairava with the gentle and beneficent 
Yishnu; nor can he be an incarnation of Vishnu, who, 
when incarnate, does not preserve his dark-blue colour. 

The history of Mahadeva's family cannot be better 
concluded than by an anecdote of Ganesa, which serves 
at once to illustrate his character and the reputation of 
the Rishis. These distinguished personages had a 
quarrel among themselves, and six of them conspired 
to ruin the seventh, Gotama. Ganesa lent himself to 
this not very brotherly design, and appeared before 
Gotama in the shape of a cow, animated by the most 
minute spark of life. In this shape the god of pru- 
dence so conducted himself as to induce Gotama to 
strike him; the cow immediately fell dead, though the 
blow was given with no heavier weapon than a blade 
of grass, and Gotama and his family were involved in 
the greatest distress. The six brothers repented of 
their unkind deed, and interceded with Mahadeva for 
Gotama. So great was their influence, that the deity, 
in order to purify the Rishi from his involuntary fault, 
disharged the Ganges from his own head, in order that, 
bathing in the sacred stream, Gotama might be restored 
to his former sanctity'"". 

We pass now to the consideration of a powerful and 
important race of beings usually considered as gods, 
and worshipped as such. These are the rulers of the 
elements and the heavenly bodies, and of these we 
shall notice in order, 1. Indra, their king. 2. Pa van, 
the lord of the winds. 3. Hanuman, his most extra- 

* Another account of the origin of this river is given above. 



80 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



ordinary son. 4. Surya, the regent of the sun. 
5. Chandra, the regent of the moon. 6. Agni, the 
god of fire. 7- Yaruna, the ruler of the ocean. 
8. Yama, the king of hell. 9. Sani and Yirispati, the 
respective rulers of the planets Saturn and Jupiter. 

First, then, of Indra, a most important personage in 
Indian fable, being no less than lord of the elements. 
His abode was a most delightful paradise, not much 
unlike that described by Mohammed: it is called the 
" Swerga," and is situated on the top of Mount Meru, 
that is, the North Pole, where the gods frequently 
assemble, and are solaced with nectar and ravishing 
music. In this Swerga is the city Amravati, wherein 
is the garden Nandana: in this garden is placed the 
palace of Indra: it is called Yaigayanta, and is sur- 
rounded by delightful trees, three of which produce 
fruit of every description. Here likewise is the eight- 
headed horse Oochisrava, which is appropriated to this 
deity, and the cow Surabhi. He is fabled to ride a 
gigantic elephant, Iravaty, and to Avield the thunder- 
bolt, which is called Yagra. The water-spout is said 
to be the trunk of his elephant drawing the water into 
the clouds, and the iris is his bow. It is deemed par- 
ticularly unlucky to point at the rainbow, as this potent 
and irascible deity is always displeased on such occa- 
sions. In his wars, which are very numerous, as king 
of the firmament he employs hosts of elephants: these 
are the clouds, and the chief of them is Iravati, the 
vahan of Indra; his consort or sacti is called sometimes 
Aindri, and sometimes Indrani. We shall just give 
the manner in which the government of the firmament 
is subdivided, and then pass on to the history and 
adventures of Indra himself. Each point of the com- 
pass has its own lord, and, strange to say, Mahadeva 
appears among the vassals of Indra in two points, under 
the names Rudra and Isani, — Vishnu in one, as Yayu 



OF GANESA. 



81 



or Pavana, — and Brahma in one, under his own. The 
list is as follows: — 

E Indra. 

S.E Agni. 

S Yama. 

S.W Nirit. 

W. .... Varuna. 

N.W. . . . Vayu, or Pavana, or Vishnu. 

N Cuvera, the god of riches. 

N.E. . . . Isani. 

The zenith . . Brahma. 

The centre . . . Rudra. 

The nadir . . . Naga, or Seshnaga, or Vasoky. 

Over all these Indra is prince, and as such rules the 
East, which is the most dignified point of the compass, 
and his Paradise or Swerga is, as has been mentioned, 
on the summit of Mount Meru, a mountain of gold 
and gems, at the North Pole. Hence, when giving 
and receiving evidence, the Hindoo witness and magi- 
strate turn to the East or to the North. Though called 
prince of the beneficent genii, his character is very 
equivocal, and his adventures seem generally to make 
him more deserving his name Sakra, or counsellor of 
evil. He has many names, and among them one which 
signifies destroyer of towns. This appellation is ex- 
plained by the following relation: — Mr. Hunter, in the 
sixth volume of the Asiatic Researches, gives an account 
of the modern city of Ougein, or Uijaini, called also 
Avanti. About a mile distant is the ancient city, 
which is buried in the earth at a depth of from fifteen 
to eighteen feet; but on digging, all its walls, pillars, 
and buildings, are found entire. Mr. Hunter searched 
diligently for volcanic indications, but in vain. There 
are no traces of volcanic action in the neighbourhood, 
and he thinks the state of the city is such as to pre- 
clude the idea of its destruction having been the work 
of an earthquake. The city is situated in the imme- 

G 



82 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



diate vicinity of the river Sippara; the soil on the 
hanks is said to he particularly yielding and hoggy; 
and as the whole plain in which the city stands is liable 
to frequent inundations, it may have been forsaken, 
and-gradually sunk in the soil. However it is no longer 
on the surface, and afforded too good an opportunity 
of making a mythological tale to be lost. This is the 
Hindoo account of the matter. 

A certain deity named Gundrussein was, for some 
insult to Indra, obliged to be born on earth in the shape 
of an ass; but on his making very great submissions, 
the sentence was so far commuted, as to require the 
asinine shape only during the day, allowing him at 
night that of a man. This disastrous incarnation took 
place at Ougein, and the ass feeling himself a very dis- 
tinguished person, though an ass, very coolly demanded 
the daughter of the sultan, or rather rajah, Sundersein, 
in marriage. The rajah demurred, as was natural, but 
being informed of the ass's divine origin, he was brought 
to see the propriety of the match: he knew nothing of 
the nightly transformation, which might have recon- 
ciled him; " but difficulties soon abate," when a Hindoo 
poet has to tell a tale, and a god is the hero. The 
marriage was accordingly celebrated, for in those happy 
days the ladies were not consulted till all the pre- 
liminaries had been settled, and therefore we are not 
informed whether she were pleased or displeased with 
her semihuman lord. All clay Gundrussein lived in 
the stables like an ass, but when the shades of evening 
fell, he left his skin in the stables, and assuming the 
form of a handsome and elegant man, presented himself 
before his princely bride. Circumstances at last arose 
which rendered it advisable for the princess to tell her 
father of the advantages which her husband enjoyed, 
and the rajah accordingly, watching his opportunity, 
stole into the stables during the night, and burnt the 
ass's skin. Gundrussein could now no longer take 



OF GANESA. 



83 



this degrading shape, at which he was, as might be 
expected, much delighted; but he warned his father- 
in-law of the inevitable vengeance of Indra, and 
advised him and his daughter to quit the city : they did 
so, and Indra immediately destroyed the city by a 
shower of earth. Some say that the princess only fled, 
and that the rajah perished, which is a more consistent 
story. She gave birth very soon to a son, who was 
named Vikramaditya. This prince was a great king, 
and a no less great astronomer: his sera is much used 
in India, and hence we have the date of this cata- 
strophe, namely, b. c. 56." 

Another adventure of Indra is beautifully told by 
Sir William Jones, in an ode to that divinity. The 
anecdote is briefly thus : — Indra assumed the form of a 
shepherd boy, in order to steal some beautiful pome- 
granate blossoms, wherewith to deck the hair of his 
lovely consort, (who seems somewhat improperly called 
a sacti, inasmuch as she does not possess the power of 
her husband.) The peasant to whom the flowers be- 
longed, ignorant of the robber s rank, bound him to a 
tree, whereupon the demigods subordinate to Indra 
came to his rescue. 

They with the ruddy flash that points his thunder, 
Rend his vain bands asunder; 
The exulting god resumes his chosen eyes, 
Four arms divine, and robes of changing dyes*. 

These robes of changing dyes are the variable clouds 
which adorn the firmament, and the eyes refer to the 
legend that Indra was covered with eyes. The general 
character of his doings are not very creditable to his 
habits, and some evince no great love for the other 
gods. He has been already mentioned as the coun- 
sellor of evil, and he seems to have been considered as 
jealous of honours paid to other deities: not unfre- 

* Sir William Jones. 

G 2 



84 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



quently he stole the horse which was to he solemnly 
sacrificed. One of his appellations is Dyupetir; and 
when it is considered that he was the king of the fir- 
mament, that he dwelt on a lofty mountain, where he 
entertained the gods, and that his earthly adventures 
were hy no means distinguished for moral rectitude, 
we shall seem to have a much closer etymology for 
Jupiter than Juvans pater, or Dies piter, or even Zeus 
pater, which is better than either of the others. Of 
the other demigods, all of whom are the subjects of 
Indra, we shall treat in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE GENII OR DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA. 

Of these spirits Pavan, or Pavana, the lord of the 
winds, comes first in the list given in the last chapter. 
His history is but short, and of no great importance. 
The few anecdotes related of him are by no means cre- 
ditable to him. One tale, in which he is said to have 
made an offer of marriage to a hundred young ladies at 
once, is rather peculiar, inasmuch as the name Hari is 
applied to him, and he is thereby made the same as 
Vishnu. The sequel of the story tells us that when 
the young ladies referred him to their father, he was 
so incensed that he afflicted them with crookedness, 
from which deformity they were afterwards delivered 
by the influence of brahmins. Pavana is more remark- 
able for being the father of Hanuman, or rather being 
called so, than for any deed of his own. This Hanuman 
was born certainly by some extraordinary influence of 
Siva, and Pavana seems to have nothing to do with 
his parentage, otherwise than by conveying to his 
mother, a mortal woman of the Brahmin tribe, a cake, 
after eating which she gave birth to Hanuman. His 



DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA. 



85 



form was that of a monkey, and from the moment of 
his birth he gave proof of his descent from the deity of 
destruction: not content with such food as is usual for 
infants, he determined to devour the sun, and, taking 
a flight, we are not told exactly how, he put Surya in 
such fear that he fled to Indra for aid, and Indra lifting 
his thunderbolt, struck the young devourer to the 
earth. After this we hear abundance of boisterous 
doings from this son of the wind, and at last he raised 
an army of monkeys, many of them like himself of 
divine origin, to assist Rama in his war with Havana. 
This will be spoken of when we come to treat of the 
incarnations of Yishnu, when the monkey-divinity will 
have occasion to be frequently noticed. 

Surya, the regent of the sun, is of course a popular 
divinity. And in every system of mythology which 
has passed under the notice of the learned, they seem 
to agree in referring almost every object of worship 
ultimately to the sun, as the most glorious and appro- 
priate type of the Creator. By making separate per- 
sons of his properties, and finding them suitable adven- 
tures, in accordance, first, with astronomical fact, and 
lastly, with poetical fancy only, the poets soon raised 
a system of mythology, which must be ever distin- 
guished from the more rational systems of the philo- 
sophers. Their understandings were, as Sir William 
Jones remarks, too strong to admit the popular belief, 
but their influence was too weak to reform it. To 
return to the regent of the sun. He is represented in 
a resplendent car, drawn either by seven horses, or by 
one horse with seven heads, and is driven by Arun, 
(the dawn,) who is made with the legs cut off just 
below the knee*. He is believed frequently to have 

* It will be remembered that Horus, the corresponding 
Egyptian divinity, was born with his legs so twisted together 
as to be unable to walk. 



86 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



descended to the earth, and to have left a race as 
renowned in Hindoo storj as are the Heliades in 
Greece. His two sons, called Aswina, are depicted 
like Castor and Pollux, 

While speaking of the sun, it may be as well to 
mention that the signs of the zodiac (the same as 
among us,) and the planets are his constant attend- 
ants, and in many pictures he is represented in the 
midst of them. He is not unfrequently invested with 
the attributes of Yishnu. Among the planets, there 
are two figures well known by those read in astrology, 
called Ketu and Rahu, the dragon's head and tail ; but 
there is seldom any dragon-like appearance in painting 
or sculpture, Rahu being the body of a dark-coloured 
man, riding some animal, generally a tortoise, and Ketu 
his head, borne by a frog. The story of Eahu-Ketu is, 
that he, being an adviser of mischief, fraudulently 
swallowed some of the amrita, or beverage of immor- 
tality, by which he became, like the gods, deathless. 
He was, however, while drinking it, cut in half by 
Yishnu, and he fell to the ground: the two halves 
were severally adopted by two Brahmins, who at last 
persuaded Yishnu to re-admit them to the firmament, 
where they now are. Ketu is the father of water- 
spouts, Rahu of crocodiles. Surya presides over one 
day of the week, the others being governed by the 
other planets, according to the annexed table: — 

English name of the 



Sunday . . 
Monday . 
Tuesday . . 
Wednesday 
Thursday . 
Friday . . 
Saturday . 



Governed by 
Surya . 
Chandra 
Mangala 
Budha . 
Yirispati 
Sukra . 
Sani . . 



Called 
Aditvar . . 
Somvar . 
Mongalvar . 
Budvar . . 
Yirhaspetvar 
Sukervar 
Sanivar . . 



Deity or Planet. 
Sun 
Moon. 
Mars. 
Mercury. 
Jupiter. 
Yenus. 
Saturn. 



The names of the two first days will be better under- 



DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA. 



87 



stood when it is known that Surya is the son of Aditi, 
and that Soma is another name of the moon. Chandra, 
the lunar regent, is sometimes a god, sometimes a god- 
dess, and is represented in a beautiful car drawn by 
antelopes, and himself invested with the attributes of 
Vishnu. Agni, the god of fire, is always depicted of a 
deep and dull-red colour, clothed in a yellow pitamber 
or waistcloth; he has two faces, three legs and seven 
arms ; a forked flame issues from his mouths, and on his 
head are two horns; he rides a ram of a dark-blue 
colour, with red horns. Yaruna, the ruler of the ocean, 
is not, strange as it may appear, a person of much con- 
sequence in Indian fable. Vishnu himself being the 
personification of water, the allegorical legends seem 
to have attached to him rather than to Varuna, who is 
consequently but little noticed. In the first volume of 
the Asiatic Researches, Sir William Jones gives a plate 
of him, riding a monstrous fish, but without anything 
to distinguish him from a mere man. Very different 
is the case with Yama, the lord of hell: he is a deity 
of great power and celebrity: he is figured as having 
two shapes ; under the one he is called Dhermer Rajah, 
or king of justice, and as such he has a benevolent and 
mild aspect; this is called his divine countenance, and 
is beheld only by the righteous. His servant is named 
Karmala, and he brings the righteous on " celestial 
self-moving cars" to the king of judgment. His other 
form is called Yama, and it is fierce and terrible; the 
w r icked only can see it. The Hindoo hell is called 
Patala, or Padalon; but the government of Yama is over 
the dead, whether in Swerga or Padalon. His own 
abode is in a gorgeous city called Yamapury, situated in 
hell, to which city the Hindoos believe that every soul 
repairs immediately after death; and after receiving 
sentence from Yama, is, if abounding in virtue, caused 
to ascend to Swerga, the Paradise of Indra; if mode- 



88 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



rate, has another life on earth, which may be in a 
human, an animal, a vegetable, or a mineral state, as 
the vices of the individual may have prevailed over his 
virtues ; but if the character has been very bad, he is 
plunged into Naraka, the snaky hell. The servant of 
Yama who attends on the wicked, is named Kashmala ; 
he drags them, with ropes round their necks, over 
rough places, till at last he casts them into Naraka. 

One of the Puranas says, " Yama, the regent of hell, 
has two dogs, one of them called Cerbura, who is also 
distinguished by the appellation Trisiras, or three- 
headed, the other Syama, or black." Yama coincides 
with Yishnu, with Mahadevi, and with Brahma, but 
more particularly with the second. Hence we find his 
consort Pataladevi, but another name for Parvati. 

Sani, the regent of Saturn, and Yrihaspati, of Jupiter, 
require each a few words. The sun is the peculiar 
station of Yishnu, though it seems that every other 
divinity of great note may be made to coincide with 
that luminary ; yet as Surya is always invested with the 
attributes of Yishnu, so is Yrihaspati with those of 
Mahadeva, and Sani with those of Brahma. Sani, 
however, is described as wearing a dark turban, loosely 
twisted round his brows ; his aspect hideous, and his 
brows knit with anger. He has the trident of Maha- 
deva, and the scimitar, with the bow and shaft. He 
is mounted on the raven, as his vahan, a choice which, 
as he is a personification of time, is peculiarly appro- 
priate, since the raven destroys its young, and time 
destroys all its productions. 

These are all reasons for supposing Sani and Maha- 
deva to be the same persons, but as there is strong 
proof of his coincidence with Brahma, it will only serve 
as another proof of the mode in which the attributes 
of the Hindoo divinities are often interchanged. Yri- 
haspati is remarkable for giving his name to an astro- 



DEMIGODS SUBORDINATE TO INDRA. 



89 



nomical cycle, and being, as it were, the hinge on 
which many important calculations turn. Mytholo- 
gically considered, he was the preceptor to the gods, 
and the messenger from one to the other. 

There are two personages whose names appear 
among the genii subordinate to Indra, who have not 
as yet received notice ; these are Cuvera and Nirit. 
Cuvera is the Hindoo god of riches ; he resides in a 
splendid city, called Alaka, and rides through the air 
in a car of gold and gems ; it is named Pushpaka. His 
servants and companions are the Yakshas and Guk- 
yakas, spirits like himself, of foul appearance and 
sordid inclinations ; the spirits of men who, in their 
lives, resemble them, pass into them after this life. 
Cuvera, though god of wealth, is not much worshipped. 
Prayers for riches are addressed, not to him, but to 
Laksmi. He has a consort, named Cauveri, from 
whom the river so called derives its appellation. He 
is the half brother of Havana; whose history we shall 
soon investigate. 

Nirit is a god of purification, but his, name is not 
often met with, and images or pictures of him are 
exceedingly rare. He is also called Yirupaksha, a 
word which signifies having a disagreeable counte- 
nance. His consort is called Niritti, and they seem to 
rule jointly over the south-west point of the compass. 



90 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE AVATARS, OR INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 

It will have been remarked, that a great number of 
distinguished persons, of whom we have had occasion 
to treat, and not a few of the inferior divinities them- 
selves are only incarnations or avatars of some superior 
god. The term avatar, or avatara, properly signifies 
descent, and, although correctly used in all those cases, 
it is principally employed to denote those ten incar- 
nations of Vishnu, which are of the greatest conse- 
quence. Of these we shall now proceed to give a brief 
account ; their importance will be best understood 
when it is known that in them the principal philoso- 
phical and astronomical allegories of the Hindoos are 
contained. 

The first, then, of these avataras is that of the fish, 
called Matsyavatara, and has been decided by Sir 
William Jones to bear reference to the deluge, and in 
fact to be merely a relation of the same fact disguised 
in mythological language. In the reign of Satyavrata, 
the seventh Menu, the whole world became corrupt, 
and the deity accordingly sent a flood to destroy man- 
kind, but, among the universal degeneracy, the prince 
himself, the seven Rishis, and their wives, were deemed 
worthy of preservation, and accordingly, by command 
of Vishnu, they, accompanied by all the several ani- 
mals in pairs, entered an ark prepared for the occasion, 
called Cahitra. Vishnu took on himself the form of a 
fish of stupendous dimensions, to which the ark was 
moored by a vast serpent (Vasoky), of whom we shall 
hear more hereafter. Fastened to the horn of Vishnu, 
the Cahitra rode securely through the flood. No 



OF THE AVATARS. 



91 



sooner was the deluge subsided, than Vishnu, with 
Brahma, slew a huge monster, named Hyagriva, (the 
horse-necked,) which demon had taken the opportunity 
while Brahma slumbered at the end of a calpa, to steal 
the vedas, which, it will be remembered, proceeded 
from Brahma's mouth. 

While the vedas were lost, (that is, before the flood,) 
mankind was in a state of ignorance and barbarism, 
but when they were recovered, the human race became 
just and pious again. In the flood, however, those 
comforts and conveniences which had been previously 
enjoyed, were lost ; the life of man was saved ; but 
not being artificers, the remnant of the human race 
was deplorably destitute of those advantages which 
make life desirable. 

To restore them to these, or rather to restore these 
to them, Yishnu proceeded to churn the sea, and the 
history of this churning is that of the second avatara, 
called the Kurmavatara. Yishnu, in this incarnation, 
assumed the form of a tortoise, which is, in the Sanskrit 
language, Kurma, and thus gives a name to the avatara. 
In this shape he bore on his back the mountain Man- 
dara, which was made to revolve by having the serpent 
Yasoky turned round it. On one side the gods, and 
among them Yishnu in his own character, pulled by 
the tail of the serpent, and on the other side the Dana- 
vas, or evil genii, pulled by the head, and thus gave a 
rotatory motion to this huge mountain. 

In the pictures representing the Kurmavatara Yishnu 
is seen, not only as the tortoise and in his own shape, 
but likewise standing on the top of the mountain, so 
that he has a threefold existence ; but this is not un- 
common in other instances. 

This churning of the ocean was not without its 
effect. Fourteen most valuable articles were obtained 
by means thereof, commonly called the fourteen gems, 



92 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



the " chowda ratny :" 1 . The moon Chandra ; 2. 
Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune and beauty ; 3. Sura, 
or Suradevi, the goddess of wine ; 4. Oochisrava, the 
eight-headed horse of the gods; 5. Kusthubha, a jewel 
of inestimable value ; 6. Parijati, a tree that sponta- 
neously yielded everything desired; 7° The cow Su- 
rabhi ; 8. Dan whan tara, a physician; 9. The three- 
trunked elephant of Indra; 10. Shank, a shell which 
had the power of conferring victory on the warrior 
that should sound it ; 11. Danusha, an unerring bow; 
12. Bikh, medical drugs; 13. Rhemba, the apsara, a 
beautiful woman ; and lastly, that for which the ope- 
ration had been chiefly performed, viz., the amrita, or 
water of immortality. 

Now, on these fourteen gems it will be necessary to 
say a few words. There seems to be a great inconsist- 
ency in several of them. In the first place, we have 
Laksmi and Rhemba as separate persons, whereas they 
are evidently the same; and next, it appears absurd to 
introduce Laksmi at all, for the pervading energy of 
the preserving attribute must be co -eternal with that 
attribute, and in other places is so represented. 

Chandra and Surabhi are also spoken of as existing 
long before this churning ; this, therefore, will serve as 
another instance of the difficulties met with in inter- 
preting mythological fables, and will likewise point out 
the general cause; viz., the liberty taken by poets to 
invent adventures for the allegorical personages who 
form, as it were, the framework of mythology. 

In addition to these fourteen gems, there were 
()()0,000,000 apsaras churned out of the sea at the 
same time, who are frequently met with in Hindoo 
poetry. The third incarnation is called the Vaharava- 
tara, from the Sanskrit Yahara, a boar, and has two 
legends, one which makes it refer to the general deluge, 
like the two former. In the pictures representing it 



OF THE AVATARS. 



93 



Vishnu lias four arms and the head of a boar, bearing 
on his tusks a crescent, containing in its concavity a 
picture of the earth, which he descended into the great 
deep to bring up, after it had been plunged there for 
the wickedness of the inhabitants. 

The other gives a reason for the assumption of this 
singular form, and tells us that a certain daitya, named 
Hirana Yatsha, (or the golden-eyed,) having performed 
certain acts of devotion, and indeed spent a life in 
religious austerities, demanded, as usual, a boon of 
Brahma, and, like all the other devotees of his class, 
he modestly asked for universal empire, and freedom 
from danger through noxious animals, which, to make 
assurance doubly sure, he enumerated one by one ; he 
however forgot the hog. Brahma granted the prayer, 
which he had no right to deny, and made the ambitious 
daitya almighty. 

The demon accordingly acted as such a being might 
be supposed to act ; he seized upon the earth, now 
become his own, and carried it with him into the 
depths of the sea. Vishnu, willing to preserve the 
earth, took the form of a boar, and, descending into the 
abyss, had a contest with the daitya, which lasted a 
thousand years ; eventually he slew him, and rescued 
the earth on the point of his tusk. 

A Brahmin was once asked by a Christian mission- 
ary, " What was the ark moored to while the boar 
was bringing up the earth?" to which the following 
answer was given, — " That is a wrong view of the 
case; they were at two different times." It is evident 
that the first fable involves an astronomical theory, 
and that the latter was invented to obviate the incon- 
sistency just alluded to. 

The fourth incarnation is the Narasinghavatara, or 
man-lion, the story of which closely resembles the last, 
though adorned with a piece of poetical invention for a 



94 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



preface. Laksmi was desirous of seeing a battle ; she 
expressed her wish to Vishnu, who, to gratify her, 
determined to cause his servants to insult the holy 
Hishis, who were approaching to render homage to the 
god. This he did by inspiring their minds with a spirit 
of insolence, and then banished them from his pre- 
sence. He told them that their crime might be ex- 
piated by seven transmigrations into the persons of 
faithful vaishnavas, or by three into those of daityas. 
They, as was foreseen, chose the latter alternative, and 
in one of those transmigrations, one of them, Hiranya- 
kasipu, was slain by Vishnu, incarnate for that purpose 
in the form of a fearful monster, half-man, half-lion. 

The Hiranyakasipu above mentioned, after spending 
10,000 years in acts of religious austerity, claimed at 
the hands of Brahma the usual boon, universal empire, 
and the customary request of exemption from danger 
lie framed in such a way as to secure himself from the 
mischiefs that had befallen other daityas equally potent 
with himself. He demanded that he should be ex- 
empted from death, from the hands either of god or 
man, that no noxious animal should hurt him ; and 
this charter was to be valid by night or day, within 
doors or without, in heaven or on earth. 

Now, considering himself safe, he began to imitate 
the manners of his race, rather than those which the 
habits of 10,000 years might be supposed to have made 
jDleasant ; in short, his behaviour became so arrogant 
that it was no longer to be borne, and Vishnu descended 
to the earth in the shape Narasingha, to gratify at once 
the desires of Laksmi, and to rescue mankind from the 
tyranny of Hiranyakasipu. 

Paraladha, the virtuous son of this most impious 
father, reasoned with him one day on the wickedness 
of his conduct, and called his attention to the omni- 
presence of the Deity. " "What \" exclaimed the daitya, 



OF THE AVATARS. 



95 



" do you mean to say that God is in this pillar V 
" Yes," replied Paraladha, with reverence, " I would 
say so/' The daitya drew his sword, and smote the 
pillar in hlasphemous defiance. It was now evening ; 
the time could be called neither night nor day. The 
pillar suddenly burst asunder, and exhibited the fearful 
form of Narasingha, who, throwing himself upon 
Hiranyakasipu, commenced a dreadful combat, which 
lasted an hour, at the end of which, Xarasingha, who 
could not exactly be called God, man, or beast, but a 
marvellous compound of all three, dragged the daitya 
to the pillar, which being on the threshold, was nei- 
ther within doors nor without, and lifting him from the 
ground, between earth and heaven, tore him to pieces. 
Thus Yishnu eluded the covenant which Brahma had 
made, and rescued the world from the tyrant. 

Not unlike this story is the popular Welsh legend 
of Owain Glendwyr, who is said to have covenanted 
with Satan to yield up his soul after death, on condi- 
tion of receiving supernatural aid from the spirits of 
evil during his life; this covenant was to take effect 
whether he were buried in a church or out of a church, 
and he accordingly evaded it, by using satanic aid all 
his life, and at last causing himself to be buried under 
a church wall, but neither within nor without the 
consecrated building. 

These four avatars took place in the Satya Jug, the 
earliest and happiest age of man: the fifth, which is a 
more important one, took place in the second age, the 
Tirtya Jug. 

Mahabeli, a mortal, but who had obtained freedom 
from death, and universal empire, by the ordinary 
means, was a gentle and virtuous monarch, yet, elated 
with his grandeur, he forgot the devotion due to the 
gods. To check the force of his example, which was 
getting general, Yishnu determined to inflict some 



96 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



signal punishment on its author, and was accordingly 
incarnate in the person of a miserable dwarf of the 
Brahmin caste. In this state he was the son of Kasy- 
apa and Aditi, and the incarnation itself is called 
Yamanavatara, from the Sanskrit Yamana, a dwarf. 
Prostrating himself before the king, and representing 
his Brahmin extraction, he demanded a boon, which 
being without inquiry granted, the dwarf asked so 
much of Beli's dominions as he could step over in 
three strides. These dominions were the kingdoms of 
heaven, earth, and hell. Beli requested him to choose 
something more worthy, promising, however, to con- 
firm the boon demanded, if he persisted in his request. 
Indra, in his character of Sakra, or evil counsellor, now 
stepped forward, dissuaded Mahabeli from fulfilling his 
promise, and assured him that he had pledged his 
kingdom. The monarch was too lofty-minded to listen 
to the insinuation, and demanding the vessel of water, 
proceeded to pour it upon the hands of the dwarf, by 
which rite the promise became irrevocable. Sakra, 
finding that his remonstrances had no effect, changed 
himself into a mosquito, and, entering the spout of the 
vessel, endeavoured to prevent the passage of the water. 
Yishnu, not sorry for the opportunity, took a reed to 
clear the spout, and in so doing, thrust out Sakra's right 
eye, a defect which Sakra ever after retained. The 
water now had free passage, and as it fell on the hands 
of the dwarf, his form expanded, and the attributes of 
Yishnu became visible. At two steps he deprived the 
unfortunate Mahabeli of heaven and earth ; but, as he 
had been by no means either vicious or tyrannical, he 
left him the government of hell. By this we may sup- 
pose that Beli and Yama are the same; and we shall 
have occasion, in another part of this work, to note 
their sameness. In the character of Yamana, Yishnu 
is generally called Trivikrama, the thrice-strider. 



97 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OF THE AVATARS, CONTINUED. 

The remaining Avataras of Vishnu were all in the 
hnman form. Parasu Rama, Rama Chandra, Krishna, 
and Budha, are the names of distinguished individuals 
in "whose shape he deigned to visit the earth; there 
appear to have heen several incarnations named Rama, 
and, unfortunately, two existing at once. 

The history of Parasu Rama will be briefly told: his 
parents were Brahmins; indeed his father was one of 
the Rishis ; and they had in their keeping the wonderful 
cow, Surabhi. A certain rajah, who naturally desired 
to possess an animal so valuable, slew the Rishi, and 
attempted to seize the cow, which, however, disappeared. 
The mother of Parasu burnt herself on the pile of the 
Rishi, first praying to the gods for revenge. They 
listened to her request. Vishnu became incarnate, in 
the person of Rama, and, after a long war, overcame 
and slew the Rajah Diruj: this rajah had twenty 
arms, as had Ravana, the opponent of Vishnu in his 
next transformation. The remainder of his life was 
spent in holy deeds, and, according to some poets, is 
not yet finished. 

The seventh incarnation is called Rama Chandra, 
and is detailed at great length in the Ramayana, a 
poem in which all the adventures of all the Ramas are 
given. This was undertaken to deliver the world from 
the monstrous tyranny of Ravana, King of Lanka, or 
Ceylon, a being with twenty hands, and universal em- 
pire. Laksmi was incarnate at the same time in the 
person of Sita, to whom Rama Chandra was married. 
Ravana seized upon this lady, and carried her off, after 

II 



98 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



he had failed in bending the bow, which was instituted 
as a trial for the lady's hand. Rama was aided by 
Hanuman, or Maruti, as he is sometimes called, with 
an army of apes, who built for him a bridge from the 
continent of India to Ceylon. Over this bridge the 
army of Rama passed, and, after a fierce contest, over- 
came and slew the tyrant. Hanuman acted in a great 
variety of characters; and among others, that of am- 
bassador, in which capacity he sat upon his tail, and 
caused it so to elongate itself, that its folds lifted him 
above the head of Ravana. When Sita was rescued 
from the bands of Ravana, it became necessary to 
ascertain whether she had been subjected to any insult; 
for the wife of Rama, like Csesar s, must not only be 
pure but unsuspected. She therefore underwent the 
ordeal of fire, with the most perfect success, and was 
re-united to Rama amidst the congratulations of 
Hanuman and his army. 

Hitherto we have seen the deity only partially incar- 
nate; the next avatar, that of Krishna, is said to have 
contained the plenitude of Vishnus power and glory. 
He was born of Yasudeva and Devaky, but his birth 
exciting a great terror in the mind of Kansa (the bro- 
ther of Devaky), a sovereign of great might at the 
time, Kansa ordered all newly-born infants to be slain. 
Krishna, however, escaped by being carried over the 
river Yamuna, conveyed by his father, and protected 
by the serpent Sesha, or immortality. Many modes of 
killing him were devised, without success, by Kansa. 
He spent his youth among cowherds and gopias (milk- 
maids), from among whom he selected nine as his 
favourites, who constantly followed him. At the age of 
seven years he uplifted on his little finger the moun- 
tain Goverdhen, his favourite resort, to shield his 
followers from the wrath of Indra, who, angry at the 
increasing worship of Krishna, attempted to destroy 



OF THE AVATARS. 



99 



them by a deluge. After this, his whole life is a scene 
of extravagant fable, many parts of which are too 
absurd, many too offensive, to be repeated; and when 
we have him at one time represented as the meekest, 
chastest, most benevolent being, and yet know that he 
is the divinity called Jaganath, or Jaganaut, whose 
rites are most sanguinary and most impure, we shall 
have no desire to dive into the recesses of his character. 
It must, however, be allowed, that his worship is not 
generally bloody; and the philosophy and astronomy 
connected with the earlier part of his history, and some 
of his subsequent adventures, is worth investigating, 
and we shall do this when we notice the origin of 
mythology generally. 

The ninth avatara is the incarnation of Yishnu in 
the person of Budha, and is the most important of all, 
since Budhuism has become a separate religion, and is 
more extensive in its reception than that of which it 
is here considered as a separation. Speaking, however, 
of [Budha as an avatar, we hear of him that he was 
born to rectify the voluptuous character of the times; 
he ^required celibacy from his priesthood, and absti- 
nence from animal food from his followers : the sera of 
this avatar was, according to Sir William Jones, about 
544 b. c. In the first century of our aara, the religion 
of Budha was introduced into China, and it now pre- 
vails in that empire, as in Japan, Tibet, Siam, Ceylon, 
and the Birman empire. In China he is called Fo, or 
Fohi, and in the other kingdoms and empires, the name, 
though differently modified, is nearer the Sanskrit 
Budha, or Boodh. Moor remarks, that a Vaishnava, 
or a Saiva, becoming a follower of Budha, need not do 
any great violence to his own sect; for, in fact, he may 
recognise in him half the mythological personages of 
his scarcely rejected Pantheism. 

The doctrines and history of Budha will require a 

H 2 



100 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



more attentive consideration than can be given them as 
merely emanating from an avatar, however important, 
of Vishnu. Those who worship Budha, look upon 
him as God, and are most indignant if it be said that 
he is but a personage, and not the most eminent per- 
sonage, of another system. In the Budha who is by 
the Brahmins adored as an incarnation of Vishnu, 
there is one little peculiarity which his priests are 
unwilling to comment upon, or to explain; that is, he 
is represented with the woolly hair of a negro, and 
occasionally with the thick lips that betoken African 
descent. This is an indication of connexion between 
African and Indian superstition that has already been 
noticed in the section on Egyptian mythology. 

"VVe have thus passed through a brief account of 
nine of the ten avatars. There is one yet expected: it 
is called the Kalki avatar. Kalki signifies a horse; 
and at the terrific period to which it refers, Vishnu 
shall appear in his own person, blazing like a comet, 
and mounted on a white horse. In his hand he will 
bear a drawn scimitar, and his object will be to put an 
end to the present age, — the Kali Yug. The creation 
is then expected to be renovated, and an age of purity 
will succeed. At the end of that age, all intelligences 
Will be reabsorbed into the essence of God. Time shall 
be no more; the inferior beings, who, as personifica- 
tions of the Divine will, have managed the world, will 
cease to exist, and " nothing will remain but Brahm, 
the Eternal One." This is the sentiment of the most 
enlightened among the Brahmins; and this absorption 
into the essence of the Supreme Being they declare to 
be the highest happiness; all the rest is, they say, 
maya y or delusion. 





101 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE HINDOO RELIGION AND \ 
MYTHOLOGY. 

The conclusion of the last chapter gives an appearance > 
of rational theism to the religion of the Hindoos, which 
could hardly fail to he extremely beneficial (in default 
of better light,) to a nation among whom it prevailed; 
but it is a lamentable fact, that though the mythology 
may, by the aid of philosophy, be so explained, it never 
was presented in this light to the multitude. Tothem r 
the fables under which astronomical facts, historical 
events, or philosophical theories, were propounded, 
were as literal truths. The learned might procure a 
glimpse of the truth, — the unlearned must take up with 
the falsehood. 

Now the effect of this upon society is twofold, and 
in both its operations mischievous. In the first place, 
it sets apart a race of men as the sole depositories of 
religious truth, not only without command, but without 
recommendation to disperse it; and allows them to 
make the form and substance of popular opinion what- 
ever they please. In the next place, after having shut 
out the little glimmering of truth their system con- 
tained from the mass of the people, it furnished them 
with a high heap of undigested fables, few of which 
bore reference to the moral duties, and some were not 
of a very correct nature. 

The frauds, the voluptuousness, the violence, that 
appears in the conduct of deities, if not held up as a 
model for imitation, cannot be the mark of very severe 
reprehension; and though it might occasionally be 
remarked that it was all may a, delusion, still nothing 



102 



IIINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



was implanted in its stead; and we find, consequently, 
a considerable laxity of morals prevailing at all times 
throughout India. 

It is a great honour to the Hindoos, that decorum 
generally prevailed in their worship. The adoration 
paid to the powers of nature, typified by the Linga and 
Yoni, was, save among certain sects, perfectly inoffen- 
sive; a species of praise which cannot be bestowed on 
the similar worship of the Greeks and Romans. The 
mildness peculiar to this people (the Hindoos) can 
hardly be the effect of their religion, and is, indeed, 
to be sought rather in physical causes. 

With regard to the customs of this interesting 
nation, a few particulars may be observed, because they 
are generally misrepresented. As to eating flesh, it is 
not at all forbidden. For a Brahmin, some defilements 
of a ceremonial nature would be contracted by eating 
food cooked by one of an inferior tribe, or by partaking 
of the same dish with him : and though it would be a 
disgrace to see a Brahmin intoxicated, yet they do not 
abstain from wine ; and the lower classes of the Hin- 
doos are, it seems, from the testimony of Major Moor, 
as much given to drunkenness as those of any other 
nation. 

This subject will find an apposite conclusion, from a 
few remarks on the sects and castes of the Hindoos. 
The sects are those divisions occasioned by worshipping 
one deity as the chief, in some instances the only, 
object of religious worship. Those of the Yaishnavas 
and Saivas have been already mentioned, but these are 
considerably subdivided. Many of the former worship 
some particular avatar of Yishnu, as Rama, or Krishna ; 
others the sacti of Yishnu, or Mahadevi, and these are 
called Sactas ; these again are subdivided into right- 
handed and left-handed, the meaning of which has 
been already explained. All these sects are distin- 



ITS EFFECTS. 



103 



guished by marks on their foreheads, save the last- 
mentioned, who, not caring to avow what they are, 
usually put some other sign. Generally, the followers 
of Yishnu are known by vertical lines on the forehead, 
and those of Siva by horizontal lines. The most com- 
mon distinctions of the former are two upright marks, 
black, with a black dog or open circlet between or just 
below them ; that of Siva's followers is generally three 
horizontal red lines, with a red circlet in the centre. 
These sects have no bigotry one among another, though 
there are many who do not scruple to express strong 
opinions on the subject of the worship of others. Thus 
the Saivas, speaking of Krishna, say that he was a 
demon, and is now suffering in hell the penalty of his 
misdeeds; but all this seems to excite no quarrels. A 
man may leave one sect and join to another; he has 
little to do but to alter the mark on his forehead. 

Very different is the case with the castes ; these are 
hereditary distinctions, and well calculated for the 
object at which they were intended to aim: they exalt 
the dignity of the Brahmin tribe above all others, it 
matters not how situated, and portion out honours and 
reverence in exact proportion to the proximity to that 
favoured tribe. Many books are prohibited to all but 
the Brahmins; others are allowed to the Chetri, others 
to the Yarsya also; but the Sudra are confined to 
hearing, and there are some which none may even 
hear, but the first class. The distinction is known to 
those who look on the dress, by the difference in the 
zennaar, or sacred thread, of which a Brahmin wears 
four, and puts them on at eight years of age; a Chetri 
three, from that of eleven ; and a Yarsya two, from the 
period of twelve. It must be made by a Brahmin, and 
is composed of three threads twisted together, then 
folded thrice, and twisted again; these are now placed, 
without further twisting, so that the zennaar itself con- 



104 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



sists of twentj^-seven threads: of these the Brahmin 
wears four, and the other classes as has been already 
mentioned. The mode of wearing it is to pass it over 
the left shoulder next the skin, and let it fall on the 
opposite side, as far as the hand can reach: no indi- 
vidual is considered fully a member of his tribe till he 
have received it. 

A few passages from the Institutes of Menu will 
show in what light the Brahmins are regarded: " A 
twice-born man, who barely assaults a Brahmin, with 
intent to hurt him, shall be whirled about for a cen- 
tury in the hell called Tamisra. Never shall a king 
slay a Brahmin, though convicted of all possible crimes ; 
let him banish the offender from his realm, but with 
all his property secure, and his body unhurt. No 
erime is greater on earth than slaying a Brahmin; and 
the king, therefore, must not form in his mind the idea 
of killing a priest. A Brahmin, whether learned or 
ignorant, is a powerful divinity, even as fire is a 
powerful divinity, whether consecrated or popular. 
Thus, though Brahmins may employ themselves in all 
sorts of mean occupations, they must ever be honoured, 
for they are something transcendently divine/' 

These extracts show the light in which this favoured 
tribe is beheld, and point pretty strongly as to who 
were the law-makers. The same authority tells us, that 
the " natural duty of the Soodra" is servitude. 

The subdivisions of the tribes are some hundreds in 
number, of the sects, some thousands; but these are 
not to be collected with accuracy, and scarcely at all 
by name. 



105 



Section III. 

MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHALDEANS OR BABYLO- 
NIANS, SYRIANS, PHCENICIANS, CANAANITES, 
AND PERSIANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF CHALDjEAN OR BABYLONISH MYTHOLOGY. 

In order to gain a clear view of the mythology of these 
early eastern nations, who may be considered as the 
well-springs, or fountains, whence first arose those 
corrupt streams of idolatry, which, receiving number- 
less accessions in their onward course through Egypt 
and Phoenicia, deluged Greece and Rome, and all the 
heathen world, with myriads of false gods, it will be 
necessary to go back to the origin of idol-worship, 
among the immediate descendants of the sons of Noah. 
It would seem, from sacred history, that these had 
begun to corrupt their ways, even with the completion 
of the first century after the flood, as we see from the 
impious attempt to construct that tower, or great thing, 
(piyt2) whose top was to be in heaven, and that under 
the eyes of those very men who had seen God's wrath 
so fearfully poured out upon a sinful world, and who 
had themselves floated upon the shoreless waters of 
the deluge, amidst the bloated carcasses and horrible 
debris of that world, submerged for mans iniquity. 

Indeed the crime appears little at a transient view, 
that when the descendants of Noah, who as yet formed 
but one great family, in their journey ings from the 
east, (their descent from the chain of Ararat,) fell in 
with the beautiful champaign country or Shinar, so 



106 



CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



admirably suited to the wants of a pastoral people, 
they should feel anxious to form there a permanent 
society, and to perpetuate the brotherly community in 
which they had hitherto dwelt. But a moment's 
reflection will show us, that the crime was no less than 
that of determined rebellion against the Most High. 

When God blessed Noah and his sons, he said, " Re- 
plenish the earth ; and we can by no means doubt, 
that Noah, that preacher of righteousness, who with- 
stood so long the iniquity of the antediluvians, with 
his righteous children, Shem and Japheth, also with- 
stood this impious attempt to contravene the plain will 
of the Lord, which pointed to the necessary dispersion 
of the Noacida3 over the face of the whole earth. To 
prevent which known will of God, doubtless often 
expressed to them by their great progenitor, was the 
declared reason for building the city. "And they said, 
Come now, let us build us a city and a tower, with its 
top in heaven. And let us make us a name, lest we 
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth/' 
Thus idly imagining, that they might set at nought 
the decrees of Jehovah. 

This view of the dispersion is confirmed by the 
learned Perizonius. It is not improbable, also, that, 
in their rebellious folly, they may have looked upon 
their monstrous tower as a refuge from any future 
flood, as some celebrated authors have suggested. 
Although their faithful preachers must have set before 
them the everlasting covenant between the Elohini 
and every living thing, in which he expressly declared, 
that he would not bring another flood upon the earth 
to destroy all flesh ; while, in confirmation of his eter- 
nal truth, they would point to the splendid bow in the 
heavens, the appointed sign of God's remembrance of 
his promise to man, whenever his mercy brought a 
cloud over the earth to refresh the thirsty ground, and 



CHALDiEAN MYTHOLOGY 



107 



to cause it to bring forth abundantly for the support of 
his renovated creatures. 

With this dispersion of mankind throughout the 
east, consequent upon the confusion of tongues, and 
the necessary separation of the descendants of the 
three several sons of Noah, began, no doubt the prac- 
tice of idolatrous worship. To which of the sons of 
Ham the bad eminence is to be assigned, is of little 
consequence, but we are of opinion, that it began in 
the family of Cush, the father of Nimrod, and pro- 
genitor of the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Ethiopians; 
although most of the ancient historians and poets, 
as Herodotus, Lucian, Diodorus, and others, ascribe the 
invention of false gods entirely to the Egyptians, (the 
descendants of Mizraim,) who undoubtedly had, in 
after-times, a greater multitude of deities than all other 
nations, and became indeed the great storehouse whence 
the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, drew their 
inexhaustible pantheism. 

Quis nescit, Vohisi Bytliinice, qualia demens 
iEgyptus portenta colat, &c. — Juvenal Sat. xv. 
But our business is not now with the sons of 
Mizraim, but with the Babylonians, the immediate 
descendants of Cush, the first-born of Ham, the repro- 
bate son of Noah. The book of Genesis, which is 
undoubtedly the oldest of all existing histories, gives 
us plainly to understand, that, on the dispersion of the 
Noacidse, Nimrod, with the descendants of Ham, re- 
tained possession of the mighty city, and thus became 
the founder of the Babylonian empire. This opinion 
is confirmed by Josephus, who, in relating the dispersion 
of mankind, says of Nimrod, that, virofjueivas, remain- 
ing, while the others departed in various directions, he 
obtained the kingdom of the Babylonians. " And the 
beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and 
Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." 



108 



CHALDyEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



"Man," it has been somewhere pertinently observed, 
" is a religious animal." And when debarred from the 
knowledge of the one true God, his ever creative 
imagination frames to itself objects of adoration, in 
accordance with the physical and moral circumstances 
in which he is placed. Thus the dwellers in the plain 
of Shinar, following the occupation of hunters and 
shepherds, in a delicious climate, and under a cloudless 
sky, and seeking for objects of worship on whom their 
imaginations might fix as the dispensers of the various 
blessings which they enjo} T ed, or as deities to whose 
invisible power they might recur for success in their 
hunting or predatory expeditions, would naturally turn 
their attention to the heavenly bodies, and especially to 
the sun. And seeing it to be the great fountain of light 
and heat, and that its fructifying rays caused the earth 
to bring forth abundantly, that all nature seemed to 
rejoice at its daily return, and that the blaze of its 
unutterable brightness was too great for man to look 
upon: moved by these manifestations of divine power, 
and discerning no other object in nature which laid 
such powerful claims to adoration, as a present deity, 
they fell down and worshipped it as God. 

To the worship of the sun as supreme, that of the 
moon and the planets as subordinate deities naturally 
succeeded; to which was added, fire-worship, the 
invention of which has been attributed to Nimrod 
himself; and, if we may hazard a conjecture, was, 
most probably, fire obtained from the sun, and there- 
fore held sacred as the gift of their great god. From 
this sacred fire was named the city or territory of 
Ur (T)^) of the Chaldees, the primitive meaning of 
*V)N being a blazing fire. Though the Vulgate trans- 
lates " ex Valle Chaldaeorum," and the Septuagint 
€/c TrjS ^oop<29, "out of the region or country;" the 
Targum, however, has N"Y)ND tnus marking it as the 



CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



109 



proper name of the city or territory where Abraham 
was born. And the Targum Jerosol speaks very plainly, 
*N*7t£DT ftlJIND " out °f tne furnace of fire of 

the Chaldees." And this meaning is fully borne out by 
Joshua, who says (xxiv. 2), " Your fathers dwelt 
on the other side of the flood in old time, Terah the 
father of Abraham^ and the father of Nachor, and 
they served other gods." This, then, appears to be a 
sufficient answer to those writers who suppose that 
Nimrod and his immediate followers did not practise 
idolatry, but adopted it afterwards from the Egyptians. 

Having thus taken a hasty view of the origin of 
idolatry among the ancient Babylonians, and which 
was probably the source whence flowed the mythology 
of all the eastern nations, it remains for us to give an 
idea of their religion at the time when their empire 
was overthrown by Cyrus the Mede, a. m. 3466. 

Babylon, and the land of Chaldeea, was at that time, 
by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, the very chief 
seat and stronghold of idolatry. The Holy Spirit, by 
the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah, not only denounces 
it as "a land of graven images, and mad upon idols % 
but intimates that they had made all the surrounding 
nations drunken with their idolatry. Therefore did 
God, according to the denunciation of his prophet, 
entirely destroy that great and mighty city, from off the 
face of the earth, so that it lies utterly waste unto this 
day. So fully, indeed, has the prophecy been accom- 
plished, and so utter is her desolation, that the most 
intelligent modern travellers have sought in vain to 
determine the actual site of the ancient city. 

It is impossible now to trace the degrees by which 
they descended from the worship of the heavenly 
bodies to that of graven images, but no doubt the 
descent was rapid. Their first and greatest god was 
Belus, who is also called Bel, Baal, and Pul. He is 



110 



CHALDJ3AN MYTHOLOGY, 



generally supposed to be the same -with Belus, whose 
image was set up for worship by his son Ninus ; hut 
we are rather inclined to agree with those who affirm 
that he was a personification of the sun, the rather as 
his name Pul, Pal, or Paal, is pretty evidently the 
original of the Pol or Apollo of the Greeks and Romans. 

The temple of Belus was the pride of this gorgeous 
city; according to Herodotus, it lay on the eastern 
side. Until the time of Nebuchadnezzar, it contained 
no more than the tower, and the ample space within 
was entirely dedicated to the worship of Baal; but 
this monarch caused large buildings to be erected 
around it, enclosing the whole in a quadrangle, of 
which each side was two stadia, about a quarter of a 
mile, and consequently enclosing about forty acres of 
ground within a lofty wall, with gates of fine brass, 
reported to have been made out of the brazen sea, the 
brazen pillars, and other furniture and utensils of this 
metal, which had been brought by him as spoil to 
Babel from the temple of Jerusalem. The riches of 
this temple were enormous ; there were in it several 
statues or idols, of solid gold, besides tables, bowls, 
censers, and other sacred vessels innumerable, all of 
pure gold. One image of gold, (no doubt that of Bel 
himself,) was forty feet in height. And this has been 
conjectured, with great probability, to have been the 
same image which Nebuchadnezzar caused to be set 
up and worshipped in the plain of Dura ; it is true, 
that was three-score cubits, or ninety feet high, being 
more than double the height of this in the temple ; 
but it is suggested, with great propriety, that the base 
or pillar on which it was elevated, so as to be visible 
to the surrounding multitudes, was included in the 
sixty cubits. Herodotus speaks of this great idol 
as being still there in his time; and Diodorus estimates 
it at one thousand Babylonish talents: and the whole of 



CHALDiEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



Ill 



the gold in this temple, if we can credit the accounts 
of the various authors whom we have consulted, 
amounted to the enormous sum of twenty-one millions 
sterling. 

But in all this mighty temple, that ancient and won- 
drous tower, which occupied the centre, seems most 
worthy of a particular notice. We have already stated, 
that, until the time of Nebuchadnezzar, this formed 
the whole of the Temple of Beius. According to the 
general opinion, this was the same tower which the 
immediate descendants of Noah erected in the plain of 
Shinar. In describing this tower, we will give the 
very words of Herodotus, as being the testimony of an 
eye-witness. " In the midst of the temple is a solid 
tower, of a stadium in length and breadth, upon which 
is placed another tower, and upon this another, to the 
number of eight. The ascent into these was on the 
outside, by a circle carried round each tower; in the 
last tower is a great temple, in which is a couch, or 
bed, splendidly covered, and placed beside it a golden 
table; nevertheless there is no image there, nor does 
any man lie there by night, but one woman only of 
that country, whom the god shall have chosen out of 
all, as the Chaldasans, the priests of this god, relate. 
They also say (but these things I do not believe,) that 
the god himself both comes to her in the temple and 
lies with her in the bed ; as he does in the temple of 
the Theban Jupiter in Egypt : so the Egyptians in like 
manner assert. Besides this there is another lower 
chapel (sacellum) in the temple of Babylon, in which 
is a great image of Jupiter, of gold, with a great golden 
table before him, his throne and the steps of it being 
also of gold; so that the Chaldaaans estimate it as worth 
eight hundred talents of gold. Outside the chapel is a 
golden altar, and besides that another large altar on 
which full-grown sheep are immolated; for on the 



112 



CIIALDvEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



golden one it is not permitted to offer, except sucking 
lambs. On this altar also the Chaldseans every year 
burn a thousand talents of frankincense, when they 
celebrate the feast of this god." 

Another Babylonish idol, as we learn from the 
prophet Jeremiah, was called Merodach; he is also 
generally considered to have been an ancient Chaldcean 
king, who received divine honours after his death. 

It is certain they paid great honours to their Venus, 
whom they called the daughter of the sun and the 
heavens, under the names of Succoth-Benoth and 
Mylitta. Of such authority was this goddess among 
them, that every woman, whatever her rank or station, 
was obliged once in her life to offer herself in the 
temple of this divinity, nor was she freed from this 
obligation until she had admitted some stranger resorting 
thither to her embraces. The young maidens consi- 
dered it as no slight distinction when they were selected 
to fulfil this duty before their companions; an honour 
which those deficient in personal charms were fre- 
quently obliged to sigh for year after year. They 
sat before the temple girded with slender cords, and 
brought various fruits for offerings ; when a stranger 
passing by approached, and took one of them away with 
him, she was so proud of her good fortune, that she 
reproached her companions, casting up to them that no 
man had thought them worthy to unloose their girdles. 
The Babylonian ladies of rank and fortune were by no 
means excused from the performance of this religious 
duty; nevertheless a certain modesty and delicacy of 
feeling, which in all nations distinguishes those of 
exalted rank, prevented them from offering themselves 
so openly. They caused themselves to be brought into 
the temple in a covered chariot, in which they remained 
for a short time, meanwhile they had a gallant awaiting 
them near at hand. Also when the high feast of this 



CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



113 



goddess was celebrated, a number of the most beautiful 
women of Babylon, with elegantly braided hair, and 
crowned with garlands, placed themselves at the door 
of the temple. Here they stood on either side in a 
row, so that the male worshippers who passed in or 
out might select from among them her who took his 
fancy. No woman, who thus exposed herself, could 
return with honour to her house, until a stranger had 
flung some money into her lap or bosom, and taken 
her aside with him. The lover on presenting the 
money, usually added these words, " I implore the 
goddess Mylitta for thee." So perfect was this self- 
dedication, that these women dared not refuse a lover,, 
however little to their taste, who thus addressed them ; 
and the money, however small, being considered as a 
sacred offering, might not therefore be despised. When 
these and some other ceremonies were accomplished, these 
women returned home, and thenceforward dared upon 
no terms to admit any suitor whatever to their favour. 

Of the ceremonial of the Chaldaean worship, we 
learn from the works of the ancients which have 
descended to us, little more than has been noticed 
above. : That they made use of all sorts of musical 
instruments then known, in their religious festivals, 
is plain from the /book of Daniel ; where, at the dedi- 
cation of the enormous golden Baal on the plain of 
Dura, was heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, 
sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music. 

In concluding this sketch of the Babylonian idolatry, 
it will be necessary to say something of the Chaldeans, 
as a race distinct from the other inhabitants of Baby- 
lon. The office of the priesthood, with the whole 
direction of the religious affairs of the empire, was 
entirely confided to them. They were the only 
learned men among the Babylonians, and deducing 
their origin from the earliest antiquity, they are gene- 

i 



114 



CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



rally said to be descended from the race of Shem, and 
to have derived their national cognomen from Chesed, 
the son of Nahor, (DHttO a *7£0) ; but we are in- 
clined to yield to them a higher antiquity, as, more than 
a century before the birth of Chesed, we are told that 
Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees, St. Jer- 

ome interprets this word, " like Deemons, from Jj sicut, 
and *7f# dcemon" They gave themselves up entirely 
to study, making the acquisition of knowledge their 
whole business, that they might make themselves 
thereby more fit for the service of their gods. The 
fathers instructed their sons in their sacred knowledge, 
and thus kept it 9 entirely confined to their own peculiar 
race. Thus, free from every other occupation, and 
entirely devoted to the acquisition of knowledge, which 
they transmitted from father to son, they could scarce 
fail of bringing their peculiar sciences to great per- 
fection. 

Their discipline was very strict ; the sons were on 
no occasion permitted to oppose the maxims or opinions 
of their fathers ; nevertheless, divisions arose among 
them, as among the learned of all ages. These Baby- 
lonian philosophers were divided into two sects, the 
Orcheni and the Borsippeni ; but there is little doubt, 
the former derived their appellation from an ancient 
city in the land of Shinar, called Erech, and which is 
reckoned as next to Babel, in the kingdom of Nimrod. 
The prophet Daniel speaks of them under four dif-> 
ferent denominations, namely, the magicians, the 
astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldaeans ; whence 
some have conceived that the latter were a separate 
sect, which had gained a deeper insight into the secrets 
of nature than all the others. One thing is certain, 
from the testimony of the prophet above-quoted, 
— that is, that the Chaldaeans were soothsayers. 
They applied themselves assiduously to the study of 



CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



115 



augury, or divination. They foretold future events 
from the observation of the flight of birds, and of the 
entrails of victims. They believed that matter existed 
from eternity, was self-engendered, and indestructible. 
But the government of the world and worldly afiairs 
they ascribed to a divine being, so that of all that went 
forward in heaven or on earth, nothing was the work 
of a blind fatality, but all was directed and controlled 
by divine wisdom. 

Astronomy and astrology were the sciences r to the 
cultivation of which, the Chaldeeans chiefly devoted 
themselves ; and of the latter science, considered in its 
judicial character, they are generally considered as the 
inventors. Callisthenes, who was with Alexander the 
Great when he took Babylon, found there astronomical 
observations for 1903 years, that is as far back as the 
115th year after the flood, or to the fifteenth year after 
the building of the tower of Babel. Of their superior 
knowledge in these sciences, however, the Chaldaeans 
seem to have availed themselves only for the purposes 
of their false religion, as the predicting future events, 
and otherwise imposing on the credulous multitude. 

That this unlawful use of astronomy among the 
Babylonians must have been one great means of sink- 
ing them into superstition and idolatry, will scarcely be 
doubted. Their idolatry, as we have before stated, 
began with fire-worship, that is to say, the worship of 
the sun, moon, and planets, which were by the ancients 
considered as fiery bodies. At what period image- 
worship was introduced among them, it is quite im- 
possible to ascertain; probably, however, not until they 
came under the Assyrian yoke, which was as early as 
a.m. 2284. After which, they seem to have rapidly 
declined into the grossest idolatry, and, not content 
with their own peculiar divinities, to have adopted 
most of those of the neighbouring nations. Even the 

I 2 



116 



CHALDEAN MYTHOLOGY. 



most deformed of the Egyptian monsters adorned their 
temples and streets, and the more senseless and ugly 
these monstrous idols appeared, the more were they 
honoured and adored. 

We shall conclude this sketch of the Chaldsean 
mythology hy remarking, that the names or titles of 
their kings were compounded from those of their idols, 
as Pilesar, Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonassar, 
and the like *. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN, AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY. 

Of the mythology of the Assyrian empire, founded hy 
Ashur, 1 we have no record before their conquest of> 
and union with, Babylon, to which state we haye 
already suggested that they brought their idols, as we 
find no distinction afterwards made in their religion, 
either in sacred or profane history. &.---v> * 

Of the religion of the Medes, the descendants of 
Madai, the third son of Japheth, who, under the great 
Cyrus, put an end to the Babylonian empire, we need 
not to treat separately, as it was in all respects the 
same with that of the Persians, with whose religious 
customs we shall conclude this section. Save that the 
Medes had also the custom of ratifying their covenants 
with blood : which custom they are generally supposed 
to have borrowed from the Israelites. 

Of the idolatry of the neighbouring nations of Meso- 

* Nebo, or Nabo, is mentioned along with Bel, by the 
prophet Isaiah, chap. xLvi. 1 ; but he is supposed to be an 
Ammonitish idol : and we have no account of any particular 
honours paid to him in Babylon. 



SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



117 



potamia, as distinct from that of the Assyrians or 
Babylonians, we have no records. Moses, who is our 
only authority in this case, plainly shows that they 
were far gone in idolatry, by the gods which Rachel stole 
from her father Laban. This country was first 
inhabited by Aram, the youngest son of Shem, by 
whose name it is called in Hebrew, and its inhabitants 
Aramites. 

Looking still farther north from Babylon, towards 
and between the Caspian and Black Seas, we find the 
Armenians, descended from another Aram, a grandson 
of Togarmah. Of the ancient mythology of these 
people, as distinct from that of their neighbours, we 
know little, except that they were most devoted wor - 
shippers of their goddess Ananitis, and maintained for 
her a multitude of priests and priestesses. So high, 
indeed, was the honour in which this goddess was held 
by the Armenians, that the very chiefest among them 
devoted their daughters to her service. She had the 
power of cleansing them from all impurity. They 
could permit themselves to be violated, and no man 
dared to reproach them with their prostitution as any- 
thing indecent or derogatory to their honour. Even 
in marriage, they were held as worthy as the purest 
virgins. It is easy to believe, that this gracious and 
accommodating goddess had no lack of worshippers. 

We next come to Syria, comprising all that large 
tract of country bounded on the north by the moun- 
tains of Amanus and Taurus, on the south by Arabia 
Petrea, on the east by the Euphrates, and on the west 
by the Mediterranean sea. This land, although it fell 
under the dominion of the cursed race of Ham, and 
consequently into the grossest idolatry, was originally 
peopled by the descendants of Aram, the youngest 
son of Shem, and throughout the sacred history it is 
called after his name ; Mesopotamia being distinguished 



118 



ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN, 



from it by the addition of Naharajim, or as Aram of 
the two rivers. 

We learn from the sacred history, that one of the 
chief gods of the Syrians was called Rimmon, and that 
he had a temple in their chief city of Damascus. 
Naaman the Syrian confesses to the prophet Elisha, 
that he worships other gods, and more particularly 
Rimmon. " And Naaman said, Thy servant will hence- 
forth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice uiito 
other gods, but unto the Lord. In this thing the Lord 
pardon thy servant, when my master goeth into the 
house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on 
my hand, and I bow down myself in the house of 
Rimmon ; when I bow down myself in the house of 
Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing." 

The idol Rimmon is generally, and not without pro- 
bability, considered to have been the same with Baal, 
or the sun. Grotius is, however, of opinion, that he 
represented the planet Saturn, which held the highest 
rank among the planets. All these consider the name 
of this idol to be derived from the Hebrew word rhum 
(D-n)? high or exalted; but as the word rimmon 
(pDl) ^self signifies a pomegranate, and this fruit 
was sacred to Yenus, so Rimmon has by some been 
considered to have been the Syrian Yenus. It is 
also worthy of remark, that this Rimmon is the only 
deity of the name whom Ave find mentioned in 
antiquity. 

It has been asserted by Selden, and other learned 
"writers, that among the earliest of the divinities of this 
land, we must reckon Gad; although they seem to 
have no other ground for it than what is afforded by 
Moses in the 30th chapter of Genesis, verse 11, and 
the comments of some rabbins on this passage, who ex- 
plain the words of Leah, "bagad," as (the planet) a Gad 
comes/' thus inferring a lucky nativity to her young 



AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



119 



son, from the appearance of this star at his birth : so 
early is this superstition, from which the world is by 
no means as yet free, which leads men to look to that 
planet for their destiny, under whose presiding influ- 
ence they first saw the light. The Jews called this 
planet Masol Tob, that is, good luck, and considered it 
astrologically as of good augury at the birth of a child ; 
and were therefore accustomed at the marriage of their 
daughters to present them with a ring, in which were 
engraven the words Masol Tob (3^ Hence it is 

conjectured, with the greatest probability, that Gad 
was the same with the planet Jupiter. 

In the city of Hamath, they worshipped an idol 
called Asimah, but the learned are very divided in 
opinion concerning this divinity, and the rabbins have 
hazarded as many improbable dreams concerning it, as 
the heathen poets concerning their Pan. Some have 
attributed to him the figure of an ape, others a lamb, 
others again a satyr, or he-goat. All, however, seem 
to have an idea of a male divinity. If we dared, 
among so many more learned, to hazard a conjecture, 
we should be for a goddess ; the Hebrew name has a 
feminine termination, and this idol is named in con- 
junction with the Chaldsean Succoth-Benoth, or Yenus. 

We also find Adad numbered among the gods whom 
the Syrians worshipped ; nevertheless we find but 
little concerning him, and that little obscure and un- 
satisfactory, either in ancient or modern writers. Ma- 
crobius says, " The Assyrians, or rather the Syrians, 
give the name Adad to the god whom they worship, 
as the highest or greatest and adds, that the signifi- 
cation of this name is the One, or the Only. This 
writer also gives us clearly to understand, that the 
Syrians adored the sun under this name ; at least, the 
surname Adad, which was given to the sun by the 
natives of Heliopolis, makes them appear as one and 



120 



ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN, 



the same. This name Adad, or Hadad, was very com- 
mon among the ancient Idumsean and Syrian kings, 
even as common as that of Ptolemy among the Egyp- 
tians. This deity appears to be the same called in 
Scripture Achad, where he seems to be a sort of 
Priapus, or god of the gardens. 

Elagabalus was principally worshipped by the people 
of Emesa, (the ancient Hamath,) and appears to have 
been a very ancient divinity. His name is variously 
written; by the Phoenicians, Elseagabalus, and by the 
Greeks, who altered all foreign names to suit their 
own ideas of euphony, Heliogabalus. The image 
under which he was adored, is evidence of his great 
antiquity, being merely an unhewn black stone, of a 
conical shape, said by the tradition of that people to 
have fallen from heaven. Upon it were various circu- 
lar projections and other nondescript figures, which 
were held as hieroglyphics of the sun, but which were 
never traced by the hand of man; and these capricious 
sports of nature were regarded, by their rude and 
depraved imaginations, as signs and characters of the 
divinity. 

The emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus II., took 
the name of this divinity, to whom he officiated as 
high-priest before his election to the imperial dignity, 
an office to which he was far better suited than to fill 
the throne of the Csesars ; seeing that he himself per- 
formed the ridiculous mummeries of the priesthood 
when he transferred the worship of this god to Rome. 

The people of Palmyra are supposed to have wor- 
shipped the sun and moon, under the names of Agli- 
bolus and Malachbelus, as we find from that beautiful 
monument preserved in the gardens of the Prince 
Justiniani, near St. John de Lateran, at Rome. This 
elegant ex voto bas-relief represents the facade of a 
temple resting on two Corinthian columns, above which 



AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



121 



are represented two youths on either side of a palm- 
tree. The youth on the right represents the god 
Aglibolus : the robe which he has on, and which reaches 
to the knee, is fastened with a girdle ; over this he 
w r ears a kind of mantle : in the right hand he holds a 
short round staff : the right arm is unfortunately muti- 
lated. On the left side of the tree stands the god 
Malachbelus, who is also represented as a young man, 
and is habited as a warrior. A mantle hangs on his 
shoulders, and on his head he wears a radiated crown ; 
behind him is a crescent moon. There is a double 
inscription, in the lost tongue of Palmyra and in Greek, 
of which latter the following is a translation: — 

Titus Aurelius Heliodorns Adrianus, by birth a 
native of Palmyra, the son of Antiochus, has at his 
own cost erected and dedicated to Aglibolus and Ma- 
lachbelus, the gods of his native land, this marble and 
an offering of silver, for the preservation of himself 
his wife, and children, in the year five hundred and 
forty-seven, in the month Peritius*" 

That Aglibolus represented the sun, is universally 
the opinion of the learned, as also that he is the Baal, 
Belenus, or Bel, of the Syrians. That he is the same 
as the Elagabalus of the Emesans, we think there can 
be no doubt. The opinion that Malachbelus repre- 
sented the moon, we think, notwithstanding the pre- 
sence of the crescent, not so quite well-founded. Malach 
means a king; this idol, therefore, is King Belus, who 
was undoubtedly worshipped as a god, both by the 
Chaldaeans and Assyrians. Herodian relates, that the 
Emperor Aurelian caused a beautiful temple to be 

* This date being" reckoned according to the era of the 
Seleucidso, gives the year of our Lord 234, towards the end 
of the reign of Sevems. The Macedonian month Peritius 
answers to February. 



122 



ASSYRIAN, ARMENIAN, 



erected at Rome for the reception of the spoils of 
Palmyra, and among other trophies placed therein, 
were the images of the snn and of Belus (Aglibolus and 
Malachhelus). 

That the Syrians, as well as the surrounding nations, 
had fallen into the gross absurdity of deifying and 
worshipping their early kings, we are certain, from their 
having conferred this blasphemous honour on Ben- 
hadad II., and his successor Hazael, his unprincipled 
and treacherous murderer. They carried about their 
images in processions, and boasted through ignorance 
of their high antiquity. Some modern writers have, 
indeed, confounded the deified Benhadad with Adad, 
the first and oldest of the Syrian gods : but, besides 
that Josephus is explicit in his account of the apo- 
theosis of this monarch, his very name of Benhadad, or 
the son of Hadad, proves him to have been named 
from their ancient deity. 

If we seek to know with what degree of splendour 
the Syrians honoured their false gods, we need only to 
glance at the ruins of Balbec, or Heliopolis, the city of 
the sun, named after Baal ; and those of Tadmor, or 
Palmyra, whose wondrous temples, astonishing even in 
their ruins, we find described by all modern travellers 
as among the most stupendous and gorgeous remains 
of antiquity. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 

We now come to the Phoenicians, a people whose 
commercial greatness raised them to so exalted a 
station, that the inspired prophet calls Tyre " the 
crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose 



AND SYRIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



123 



traffickers the honourable of the earth." This small, 
but rich and powerful nation, occupied a portion of the 
coast of Syria, between the mountains and the sea. 
The inhabitants traced their descent from the eldest 
son of Canaan, who gave his name to their ancient 
capital of Zidon. 

The principal gods among the Phoenicians were 
Astarte and Adonis. According to Cieero, they 
reigned together in Syria, and were so beloved by their 
subjects, that they were worshipped by them after their 
death : and as men in the early ages were of opinion 
that the departed souls of heroes, and more especially 
of the benefactors of the human race, were translated 
to the stars : so they thought they could bestow no 
greater honour on this beloved prince and his spouse, 
than that of assigning the sun and moon as their 
eternal habitations, and thus associating their worship 
with that of these already long- adored luminaries. 

Adonis was the son of Myrrha, the daughter or 
grand-daughter of Cinyras. This princess fled from 
Cinyras, and betook herself into Arabia, where she 
brought up her son Adonis, until he was old enough 
to appear at the court of Byblis, in Phoenicia, and to 
do honour to his mother. His further adventures are 
thus related by the poets: "Astarte, whom they call 
Yenus, became so desperately enamoured of him, that 
she quitted her accustomed retreats in Cythera, Ama- 
thonta, and the Isle of Paphos, to follow him into the 
deserts of Mount Libanus, w T here he amused himself 
with hunting. Mars, who felt no slight mortification 
at the preference shown by Yenus for this young 
prince, besought the assistance of Diana, who to satiate 
his revenge sent a wild boar, which killed Adonis ; 
and Yenus gave way to all the transports of the most 
impassioned grief." 

" The youthful Adonis now descended to the regions 



124 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



of Pluto, where he was soon deep in the good graces 
of Proserpine. Venus meanwhile betook herself to 
heaven, to petition her father Jupiter for his return to 
«arth. But the goddess of hell would not suffer the 
beautiful Adonis to leave her, which threw Jupiter 
into the greatest perplexity. He could not resist the 
tears of his daughter, nor was he willing to incur the 
enmity of the infernal goddess. At length, by the 
advice of Calliope, it was agreed that Adonis should 
dwell with both by turns. The Hours were therefore 
despatched to the dominions of Pluto, to bring back 
Adonis. Since which time, he spends six months of 
the year with his beloved Venus, and the remaining 
six with Proserpine in hell," 

The worship of Adonis soon grew into credit among 
the superstitious. Near Byblis was a river, which bore 
the name of Adonis ; it was there believed that the 
wound which he received from the boar was washed 
therein, because its waters ran red at certain seasons 
of the year. By this circumstance the feast of Adonis 
was regulated. 

At this solemn festival every one in the city was 
clothed in mourning and exhibited publicly their sorrow 
and compassion. Nothing but sighs and lamentations 
were heard on every side : women, selected for this 
service, ran through the city with their heads shaved, 
beating their breasts, and howling piteously. On the 
last day of the feast all this mourning was turned into 
joy, and every one rejoiced as though they had received 
Adonis again from the dead. The beginning or mourn- 
ful part of this solemnity was called Aphanismos, the 
end Heuresis, or the finding. The whole lasted eight 
days. 

The worship of Adonis was by no means confined to 
Phoenicia and Syria, but spread itself through all the 
neighbouring nations, especially in Egypt and Assyria. 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



125 



Even the Jewish women were tainted with this ido- 
latry. From Syria and Palestine the worship of Ado- 
nis was carried into Persia, to the island of Cyprus, and 
at length into Greece. In Athens especially this feast 
was celebrated with great pomp. 

The worship of Astarte is said to have been at first 
pure and public, as became the memory of a princess 
who, from the death of her husband, had reigned with 
mildness and wisdom; but in the course of time it 
became defiled with such impurities as must be passed 
over in silence. 

This goddess was for the most part worshipped in 
sacred groves; though she had her peculiar temples in 
other places, as at Ascalon, which is considered as the 
most ancient, .in the islands of Cyprus and Cythera^ 
and doubtless in many other places. She is con- 
tinually mentioned in the Bible under the name of 
Ashtaroth; and we find a melancholy record therein 
of the deceitfulness of the human heart, in the case of 
the wisest of mankind, who was drawn away to the 
worship of this lascivious deity. 

As Astarte represented the deity of the moon, we 
find her worship continually joined with that of Baal, 
or the sun. What a rage the Israelites had for these* 
gross superstitions, we learn from the fact that Ahab 
entertained in Samaria four hundred and fifty priests 
of Baal, and his wife Jezebel four hundred priests of 
the groves, or of Astarte. The secret groves of Ash- 
taroth were beside the temples of Baal, and when, 
cattle were offered to this god, they brought cakes and 
drink-offerings and incense to the goddess. To these- 
they added the practice of those shameless vices which 
they considered as acceptable service to this divinity,, 
in bowers entwined for that purpose in her sacred 
groves, or, as the scripture hath it, " under every 
green tree." The worshippers of this goddess caused 



126 PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 

themselves to be marked or tattooed on the skin -with 
the figure of a tree, whence they received the name of 
Dendrophorse, or tree-bearers. 

It was also the custom to place tables on the roofs 
of the houses, in the vestibules, at the doors, and in 
the cross- ways, on which, every new moon, they spread 
a feast in honour of Astarte, This was among the 
Greeks called the feast of Hecate. A like feast was 
also held in honour of Adonis. - 

Baal and Astarte were differently represented ac- 
cording to the fancy of the various people by whom 
they were worshipped. Sometimes Baal or the sun 
was clothed as a woman ; on the contrary, Astarte or 
the moon appeared in complete armour, with a beard, 
but generally under the form of a woman, who, for 
head-gear, wore an ox's head with the horns, like the 
Egyptian Isis. On the Tyrian coins of Demetrius the 
Second, king of Syria, we see the Tyrian Yenus, or 
Astarte, in long clothes, over which she has a mantle 
thrown back over her left arm: she stretches out one 
arm in the posture of command, and in the other holds 
a short cruciform staff. 

The rose, among flowers, was sacred to this goddess, 
for they believed that it was dyed red with the blood 
of Adonis. Finally, this goddess, who is called by 
Sanconiathon, and after him by Porphyry, Baaltis, or 
the queen, represented the divinity of the moon, as did 
the Alilat, or Alitta, of the Arabians, and the Isis of 
the Egyptians ; whence we may see how widely the 
worship of this planet was spread among the eastern 
nations. 

Adonis, in Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kurios, lord, 
seems every way adapted to the sun, who appears as a 
chief or lord among the heavenly bodies. As regards 
Adonis and Astarte, as well as Isis and Osiris, it is 
necessary to distinguish between their double divinity. 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 127 

According to the one they were monarchs in Phoenicia 
and Egypt, to whom the superstition of their subjects 
had assigned a place among the gods ; according to 
the other they were the sun and moon, whose worship, 
with that of the other planets, we have shown to be 
far more ancient than that of dead heroes, although 
their worship became afterwards so mingled as to cause 
great confusion in ancient mythology. 

Among all the idols of the eastern nations we find 
none whose worship was so universal and renowned as 
that of Baal ; his name in the east was, like that of 
Jupiter in the west, the general appellation for their 
gods. 

Priapus was worshipped among the Phoenicians and 
Canaanites under the name of Baalpeor and Beelphe- 
gor, which signifies a naked or a stone god. 

As the worship of the Cabiri took its origin among 
the Phoenicians, we shall here give a short account of 
it. The name of these deities is from the Hebrew or 
Arabic ; in both these languages Cabir signifies great 
and mighty. Under this designation were worshipped 
the deities who have charge of the dead, and in parti- 
cular Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto, and Mercury. By 
Ceres was represented the earth, which receives the 
dead, by Pluto and Proserpine the infernal regions, and 
Mercury was considered as their conductor thither. • 

The Greeks called the Cabiri the Samothracian gods, 
because their worship, in spreading from Phoenicia to 
the western nations, was first received in the islands 
of Samothracia and Imbros. The worship of these 
deities came first into great credit, after that Orpheus, 
Hercules, Castor and Pollux, with other of the Argo- 
nauts, had gone there to sanctify themselves for the 
fulfilment of a vow, made in a great storm at sea. 
Agamemnon, Ulysses, and the other heroes who had 
been with them at the siege of Troy, afterwards repaired 



128 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



hither for the same honour. Philip of Macedon, the 
father of Alexander the Great, as well as many other 
princes and great men, were admitted and initiated 
into these mysteries. The Athenians sent their chil- 
dren thither to assist at them, and others of the Greek 
nations followed their example. 

Among the reasons why the favour of the Cabiri 
was so anxiously courted was the following. It was 
universally believed that in all perilous undertakings, 
even in the most dreadful storms at sea, they afforded 
a marked support and protection to their worshippers. 
To have been initiated into their mysteries was an 
honour, which caused a man to be considered as more 
holy, and altogether superior to other men. At his 
initiation, the aspirant was seated on a throne, crowned 
with a crown of olive leaves, and girded with a purple 
scarf ; while the other initiated danced around him. 
None, however, but the priests were permitted to enter 
the penetralia, or sanctum, of their temples. They 
took the greatest care to keep the images of these 
deities from the eyes of the profane. In the island of 
Samothracia was a cavern called Zerynthus, sacred to 
the Cabiri, in which they sacrificed dogs to Hecate. 

The priests of this religion, who were called Koes, 
from the Hebrew coken, a priest, made use in their 
solemnities of the ancient Phoenician language. No- 
thing was held in higher estimation among the ancients, 
than the mysteries of Samothracia, or of the Cabiri, as 
is clear from the eagerness with which the honour of 
initiation was contended for. This ceremony took 
place in secret and in darkness, and the things acted 
there cannot be thought on without blushing • for 
human nature, nor mentioned without offence to 
common decency. 

We cannot conclude this sketch of the Phoenician 
mythology, without noticing their Hercules. This hero, 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



129 



who was called Melcartus, or Melicertus, that is, King of 
the City, is the most ancient of all those to whom the 
discovery of the art of navigation has been ascribed. 
His name of Hercules, is derived from the Phoenician 
word harokel^ which means a merchant. And he 
gained for himself a never-dying reputation as a suc- 
cessful navigator, having penetrated through the Straits 
of Gibraltar, from which circumstance, the mountains 
on either shore bear his name to this day, and are 
called the Pillars of Hercules. 

In the city of Tyre was a superb temple erected to 
his honour, and adorned with numberless costly gifts. 
Among the rest were two images of this god, one of 
gold, and the other of a precious stone, which in the 
night emitted a resplendent light. The priests of this 
temple gave out that it was as old as the city itself. 
In this city was another temple dedicated to this hero, 
under the name of the Thasian Hercules. The wor- 
ship of the Tyrian Hercules was carried by Dido to 
Carthage, and from thence along the African coast as 
far as Gades, or Cadiz, where a magnificent temple was 
erected to him, with two wonderful pillars, in memory 
of his having passed the Straits, and as they reported, 
visited their city. 

We must now turn from Phoenicia, whose mytho- 
logy, were we to enter into a history of it, would of 
itself fill a large volume, as in it is involved the origin 
of nearly all the gods of Greece and Rome, and take a 
glance at the more familiar idols of Canaan and Philistia. 
And first of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron. This god is 
frequently mentioned in Scripture. His name signi- 
fies a god, or lord, or governor of the flies. It is 
doubted by many, however, whether the Ekronites 
called their god originally by this name, or whether it 
was bestowed on him by the Jews in mockery ; as the 
prophet changed the name of Bethel, which signifies 

K 



130 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



the house of God, into Beth-avon, which signifies the 
house of sin, on occasion of Jeroboam's setting up 
there the golden calf for worship. But why should 
not the Philistines have their fly-god, as well as the 
Greeks, who had their Jupiter and Hercules Myodes, 
or Myagron, which has the same signification? 

Beelzebub is called in Scripture the prince of the 
devils, which gives us to understand, that he was chief 
among the gods of the Canaanites. This god was 
indeed sometimes represented under the form of a 
large fly, to which divine honours were paid at Ekron ; 
at others, under the form of a man with a fly on his 
head, or in his hand. That all sorts of animals, even 
the most contemptible and the most disgusting, were 
deemed by the heathens worthy to be exalted into 
gods, we have already shown in treating of the Egyp- 
tian mythology. The oracle of Beelzebub was very 
famous for its supposed omniscience. It was therefore 
much consulted by those who wished to pry into 
futurity. We find Elijah thus reproving the mes- 
sengers of Ahaziah, king of Israel, whom he had sent 
to this oracle to inquire the event of his illness; — 
" Because there is no God in Israel, go ye to inquire 
of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?" Finally this god 
was called in contempt, Beelzebub, the dirty god. 

The goddess Derceto, who was also called Atergatis, 
had a celebrated temple in the famous city of Ascalon, 
of which she is said to have been the queen. She was 
worshipped under the form of a woman, ending in a 
fish from the waist downwards. Near the city was a 
deep pond, very full of fish, consecrated to this god- 
dess. Her worshippers abstained from eating these 
fish, for they believed that this goddess had once 
resided in this tank, in the form of a fish. In the 
names Derceto and Atergatis, seem to be compounded 
the words dag, a fish, and addir, glorious or terrible. 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



131 



The heathens were fond of giving the title Addir, to 
their gods and kings, as we find in the name Adra- 
melech, or Adarmelech, that is, "the glorious or 
terrible king." This adjective is also frequently applied 
to the only true God in the Hebrew Scripture. 

The goddess Derceto was not worshipped in Ascalon 
alone, but throughout Syria, under this mermaid form, 
and was doubtless the original of the Nereids or sea- 
nymphs of Greek poets, as well as of their goddess 
Eurynome, the daughter of the Ocean, mentioned by 
Pausanias as worshipped in Arcadia, and having a 
temple in the city of Phygale. 

The following adventure is related of Derceto :— 
a Yenus being once highly offended with this goddess, 
caused her to fall desperately in love with a young 
and handsome priest. When she had borne a daughter 
to him, she conceived against her lover such an aver- 
sion, on account of her former weakness towards him, 
that she caused the poor priest to be made away with, 
and having carried the child into a rocky wilderness, 
she cast herself into the sea." The daughter thus 
exposed by Derceto, became afterwards the celebrated 
Semiramis. 

As Derceto was represented by an idol whose form 
was half- woman and half-fish, so Dagon, whose splendid 
temple was in the city of Gaza, was " upwards man, 
and downwards fish." This immense temple was 
nearly destroyed by Samson, at his heroic death, when, 
by tearing away the pillars which supported it, he 
buried beneath the ruins more than three thousand of 
the Philistines. That the Egyptians also had deities 
formed like Dagon and Derceto, we find by some of 
their coins. 

Jupiter was also worshipped by the inhabitants of 
Gaza, under the name of Marnas, which signifies in 
the Syrian tongue, " The Lord of Men." The learned 

k2 



132 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



are generally of opinion, that under this name the 
Philistines adored the Cretan Jupiter, the same who 
stole away Europa. That Marnas was formerly 
adored with distinguished honours in the city of Gaza, 
we not only learn from the splendid temple here erected 
to him, but from their having also instituted solemn 
games, with chariot races, &c., to his honour: they 
also associated his name with that of their city on 
some of their coins. Gaza worshipped many other 
gods, and had many other temples besides that of 
Marnas, which was called Marnion, as that of the Sun, 
of Yenus, of Proserpine, and Hecate, called Herion. 
But the great fame of Marnas has nearly thrown all 
the rest into oblivion. His temple, which they con- 
sidered as the finest in the world, was a circular build- 
ing, rich with costly marble, surrounded by a double 
ornamented colonnade leading from one into the other. 
The centre was open towards the north, to let out the 
smoke of the sacrifices. 

The inordinate zeal of this people in the service of 
their false gods, is clearly shown in the holy Scriptures. 
They placed the fullest reliance in the power of these 
gods, to defend them from their enemies. In this idle 
confidence, they carried their images with them in their 
wars. David, however, took some from them when he 
defeated them, and burned them. After the battle 
on Mount Gilboa, where Saul was slain, and his army 
cut to pieces, by the Philistines, they sent messengers 
to publish the victory in the house of their idols, and 
they placed the armour of Saul in the house of Ash- 
taroth. Besides this gross idolatry, this people were, 
like the other heathen nations, greatly addicted to 
witchcraft, soothsaying, and the like arts. We find 
in the Bible far more numerous and more circum- 
stantial details of the superstitions of the Philistines, 
than of the other nations of Canaan. They were even 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



133 



in the time of Abraham an idolatrous nation, but the 
long-suffering of God bore yet a long time with them, 
till at length their shameless lusts, their uncleanness 
and cruelty, grew to such a height, that the land was 
altogether polluted by them, and they were rooted out 
as inhuman monsters, as Moses circumstantially re- 
lates. And as one thing cited against them is the 
worship of Moloch, we will here say something of the 
cruelties practised in the service of this god. 

Moloch was, as is w r ell known, worshipped under 
the form of a calf or an ox, and represented the sun, 
the king of heaven ; Moloch signifying a king. Under 
which name, the Canaanites, in very early times, 
adored this luminary, and suffered their children, as 
soon as they were born, to be exposed to the 
scorching heat of his fiery rays. They looked on 
this custom as a purification, which was not only 
holy, but also healthy. But as superstition, w 7 here it 
once gets the upper hand, knows no bounds, so the 
priests of Moloch were ever adding new ceremonies 
to these. They kindled two fires before the image of 
this god, through which they caused the children to 
pass. Nor did they stop here ; it followed by degrees, 
that children, especially where there happened to be 
many in a family, were sacrificed to the great tutelary 
god Moloch, and actually burnt in honour of him. 
And that these unfortunate and miserable burnt-offer- 
ings might not move the bystanders to pity by their 
dreadful cries, the inhuman priests made use at these 
hellish ceremonies of trumpets and drums, and other 
deafening noises, so that the despairing shrieks and 
piteous moans of the wretched children could not be 
heard. From this noise and clamour, the valley in 
which these inhuman cruelties were perpetrated, was 
called " the Yale of Tophet," which is as much as to 
say, " the Yale of the sound of drums and cymbals." 



134 



PHOENICIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



This idol was provided with seven recesses or cup- 
boards in the image itself, to receive the various offer- 
ings of his worshippers. In the first was placed the 
meal, in the second the doves, in the third a sheep, in 
the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, 
and in the seventh a child, which, according to most 
writers, was burnt therein. 

It has been conjectured, and with the greatest pro- 
bability, that Moloch and Saturn were the same deity. 
Saturn, whose worship was most renowned among the 
Carthaginians, a people of Phoenician descent, was 
represented by a metallic idol, whose hands were 
stretched out together, with a downward inclination ; 
so that when the customary offering of a child was 
placed in the arms, it fell into a pan or brazier of glow- 
ing charcoal, which stood at the feet of this cruel idol, 
and was quickly consumed. There is nothing more 
certain or more famous in all antiquity than the human 
sacrifices offered to Saturn, not only in Carthage, but in 
many other places. 

We shall conclude this part of our subject by refer- 
ring the testimony of the holy writings for a proof, 
that among the Canaanites, the most horrible abomina- 
tions and sins, at which nature's self shudders, were 
practiced as acceptable service to their gods; and that 
on this account the pious patriarchs were not per- 
mitted to form any marriages or alliances with them. 
Moses also gave this command : M Thus shall ye deal 
with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break 
down their images, and cut down their groves, and 
burn their graven images with fire." 

Having thus given a short view of the mythology of 
Syria, and the nations immediately surrounding it, we 
turn to that of Persia, with which we shall conclude 
this section. 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



135 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 

The Persians were the descendants of Elam, the son of 
Shem. We cannot say when they first fell into the sin 
of idolatry ; it is clear that from their descent, they 
must have been originally worshippers of the one true 
God ; yet we find them in after times practising the 
grossest idolatry. * 

Mithras was certainly one of their principal gods. 
Plutarch, in speaking of their two chief deities, Oroma- 
zus, or Oromastes, and Arimanes, of whom the one, 
according to the doctrine of the Persian magi, was the 
author of all good, and the other the author of all 
evil, assures us, that the Persians worshipped Mithras, 
and adored him as a mediator between these two op- 
posite deities. 

There can be no doubt, from the testimony of all 
the ancient historians, that the earliest kind of idolatry 
among the Persians, as among the Chaldeans and other 
eastern nations, was the worship of the sun, which 
continued in all after times to be their highest god, and 
was adored under the name of Mithras. Of the form 
under which this god was worshipped in very early 
times, we have no record ; but he is found, on ancient 
monuments, represented as a young hero, with a high 
Persian cap, with his knee on a prostrate bull, whom 
he holds by the horn, and plunges a poniard into its 
throat. Chardin, and after him Le Brun, and other 
travellers, have copied some figures from the ruins at 
Chilimear, supposed to be the ancient Persepolis, which, 
they call Mithras, but which we are more inclined to 
consider as those of priests. They are three, in the 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



act of immolating a lion, an unicorn, and a griffin ; 
they have low caps, or turbans, and long beards. The 
sun was to be seen everywhere represented on linen 
and on the shields of the Persians. Among those ho- 
nours which they paid to the sun, were certain horses 
and chariots, which, in allusion to his rapid course, 
they consecrated to him ; and the chiefest and most 
acceptable offering which they, according to their 
opinion, sanctified to their god, the sun, was a conse- 
crated white horse, superbly harnessed. That the 
kings of Judah fell into this peculiar idolatry, as well 
as that of the surrounding nations, we find recorded in 
their history. 

Next to the sun, fire held a distinguished rank 
among the Persian gods. It appears very probable 
that the sun, the sacred fire, and Mithras, were only 
representations of the same godhead. Isidore indeed 
asserts, that the Persians worshipped the sun under 
the form of fire. The fire was therefore, in that 
country, the holiest of all things : it was always car- 
ried about with their kings wherever they went; 
they addressed their prayers chiefly to it ; and even 
when they attended the service of any other god, they 
first offered up a prayer to the fire. 

The testimonies which we have hitherto cited, that 
the ancient Persians worshipped the sun as their high- 
est god, under the name of Mithras, or Mitras, are, for 
the most part, drawn from the Greek historians. It 
was, however, asserted by the magi, that in early times, 
before they fell into the absurdity of deifying the fire, 
as well as afterwards, when this idolatry was again 
abolished, they by no means prayed to the fire itself, 
but to God in it ; because the sun being the perfection 
of fire, God had there established the throne of his 
glory, and the seat of his Divine presence in a more 
eminent degree ; and after this, in the elementary fire 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



137 



on earth. For this reason the Persians, in their devo- 
tions to God, turned their faces originally towards the 
sun, and afterwards towards their holy fire, and, finally, 
worshipped both. 

A request made for the fire's sake, was of such 
power among the Persians, that a man might be 
almost sure of meeting with no denial. When one in 
a pressing necessity went to another with a fire-brand 
and water, with the threat that if his request was re- 
fused he would cast the fire into the water and quench 
it, he was quite sure to gain his point, but was equally 
sure of punishment for his presumptuous threat. 

The ever-burning fire was perpetually kept up by 
the Persians. There were certain places consecrated 
to it, called, by the Greek writers, P}a*athea, where it 
burnt on altars spaciously enclosed with gratings, 
within which none but the magi, w T ho had the sole 
charge of these fires, were permitted to enter. They 
must go in every day to tend the everlasting fire, be- 
fore which they must remain a whole hour, repeating 
certain invocations, with a bundle of rods in their 
hands. 

Besides the sun and the fire, the Persians paid 
divine honours to the moon and to Yenus. It is most 
probable that these two deities were originally one. 
They are said to have borrowed this worship of Venus 
or Urania, from the Assyrians and Arabians. We 
have elsewhere noticed this Yenus under the Baby- 
lonian name of Mylitta. 

The Persians also adored the w T hole expanse of the 
heavens, and offered sacrifice to it on the highest 
mountains. In their most solemn processions a 
sacred chariot was paraded in honour of it. Cyrus 
was accustomed, at all times, before he mounted his 
horse to implore Jupiter, (so the Greeks named this 
Persian deity,) as the god of his people, for grace to 



138 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



be their commander and ruler. The succeeding mo- 
narchs of Persia imitated Cyrus in this custom. 

The Persians, in the extravagance of the superstition 
into which they gradually fell, not only worshipped the 
sun, or Mithras, the moon, or Venus, and the whole 
expanse of the heavens, but also, along with the fire, 
the other elements of air, earth, and water. They 
looked upon the elements as the original source of all 
things, and were therefore most cautious to preserve 
them in their original purity. With this view they 
prevented, as far as possible, the air from being con- 
taminated with any foul odours. In like manner that 
the earth should receive no defilement, they would not 
bury their dead in it, but exposed them as a prey to 
the birds and beasts, conceiving that their bodies were 
thus much more readily resolved into their original 
elements. Streams, rivers, and brooks, they held so 
pure and holy, that they would neither wash them- 
selves in them nor spit in them, much more throw any 
thing unclean into them. It was doubtless for this 
reason that they were forbidden to extinguish fire with 
water, but instead thereof made use of earth for this 
purpose. Beside all these, it is certain that they paid 
divine honour to heroes or demigods. Xenophon re- 
presents Cyrus as sacrificing to the Median heroes as 
tutelary divinities of their nation. 

As regards the religious ceremonies of the more 
ancient Persians, they not only permitted no temples 
or altars, but, contrary to the customs of the other 
heathen nations, they held in abhorrence all painted or 
graven images of their gods, and looked upon those as 
senseless who made and worshipped idols. 

The burning of the temple at Athens by Xerxes, 
doubtless proceeded rather from religious zeal than 
merely out of revenge against the Greeks, and mere 
especially the Athenians, who, without the least pro- 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



139 



vocation, had burned the city of Sardis, with its temple 
to the goddess Cybele, The magi would not have 
spared, on this occasion, to incite the Persian conque- 
ror to reduce the Grecian temple to ashes. They laid 
it to the charge of the Greeks as a fearful impiety, 
that they shut up their gods in their temples, like 
puppets in a chest, when, in reality, all was open to 
them, and the whole wide world was their temple. 

The ancient Persians, as we have shown, having no 
temples, offered their devotions to their gods under the 
open heavens, upon high hills and mountains. They 
made use of various ceremonies, and brought different of- 
ferings to their several gods. To Jupiter, or the heavens, 
they offered oxen, to Mithras, or the sun, horses; and 
it was ordained that these sacrifices should be entirely 
bumed to powder. To the fire they offered dry wood 
after they had stripped it of its bark, smeared it with 
lard, and poured oil over it. Their offerings to the 
water were made in the following manner: — when 
they were come to the sea, river, or fountain, to which 
they intended to make an offering, they dug a trench 
by the side of it, in which they slaughtered the victim ; 
they were obliged to take the utmost care, lest the 
least drop of the blood should spurt into the water, as 
such an accident would have defiled the whole. The 
priest then strewed branches of myrtle and laurel over 
the carcase, and burnt it altogether ; and, finally, when 
they had offered up certain prayers, they poured oil 
and milk mingled with honey, neither into the fire or 
the water, but on to the earth. While the priest 
offered up the prayer, he held in his hand a bough of a 
tamarind tree. 

The Persian kings made a daily offering to the gods 
of a thousand head of cattle, including oxen, goats, and 
asses, at which they usually themselves made a short 
oration, which generally treated of the fear of the gods. 



140 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



The solemn march of the king to the celehration of 
this offering, as described by Xenophon, is very im- 
posing. The streets through which the procession 
moved were lined with soldiers on both sides. Before 
the gates of the royal palace were drawn up the spear- 
men to the number of four thousand, in double lines 
on either side of four deep, facing inwards, with all 
the cavalry dismounted. As soon as the gates of the 
palace were thrown open, there were first led forth four 
beautiful bulls dedicated to Jupiter and the other god, 
according to the directions of the magi. After these 
came the horses devoted to the sun. Then a chariot 
drawn by white horses, crowned, and with a golden 
yoke, sacred to Jupiter ; then another chariot similar 
to the first, sacred to the sun. Then followed another 
chariot whose horses were clothed with purple hous- 
ings, and this was followed by men who carried the 
sacred fire on a large hearth. Then came the king in 
his chariot, with the tiara on his head, with a white 
and purple tunic, and a robe entirely purple; he wore 
also a diadem around his tiara. He was accompanied 
by the princes of the blood royal, distinguished in the 
same manner, but that the king's hands were uncovered. 
When the march began, the four thousand spearmen, 
of whom we have before spoken, marched before the 
king's chariot, and two thousand marched on either 
side of the chariot ; then came his sceptre bearers with 
javelins on horseback, about three hundred. Then 
w r ere led the king's stud of horses in striped clothing, 
with golden bridles, about two hundred. Then fol- 
lowed the whole Persian cavalry ; and the march closed 
with the Median, Armenian, and Hyrcanean horse, to 
the number of many thousands. 

The sacrifices, as well as those who offered them, 
were crowned with garlands. The cattle were slaugh- 
tered in common, and when the magi had cut them 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



141 



up, the pieces were roasted and laid upon the tenderest 
grass, generally on trefoil. The presiding magian then 
sung a hymn, concerning the origin and genealogy of 
the gods. After these ceremonies were finished, those 
who had brought the offerings, took the flesh and ate it, 
or distributed it according to their pleasure. The 
magi merely threw the caul and a portion of the fat 
into the fire ; for the Persians believed that the gods 
were satisfied with the souls of the victims and desired 
nothing more. 

The Persians also offered incense and wine to their 
gods. Some sprinkled them on the fire, others offered 
them in a china bowl which they called kondy. Before 
Xerxes passed over into Greece with his mighty army^ 
he invoked the gods in the following manner : — as 
soon as the sun arose he offered up a prayer to it, for 
preservation from all evil accidents ; he then poured a 
libation into the Hellespont from a golden flask, and 
flung in the flask, together with a bowl of the same 
precious metal, and a Persian scimitar. The super- 
stitious piety of the Persians reached so far, that at 
their solemn feasts they consecrated the first of the 
meats to the gods. Cyrus considered it his duty, at all 
times, before he ate, to set apart something on the 
table for the gods, and to give it to those whom he 
considered as most in need of it. When about to 
drink, he tasted the wine, at the same time offering up 
a prayer ; he then drank with those who sat at table 
with him. 

We will now say something of the festivals and holy 
days connected with the worship of the ancient Per- 
sians. Among the annual festivals which they cele- 
brated with the greatest solemnity, was that which 
they named Magophonia. This took place in memory 
of the seven brave Persians who freed their country 
from the tyranny of the false Smerdis, who was a 



142 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



magian, and had usurped the throne. The birth-days 
of their kings were celebrated with great magnificence ; 
and every private Persian held it as a solemn duty to 
celebrate his own birth-day ; and from a most ancient 
and solemn usage they felt obliged to eat twice as much 
that day as on any other. The rich placed on the 
table oxen, camels, horses, and asses, roasted whole. 
The poor, however, satisfied themselves with smaller 
animals. On certain days of the year the feast of 
Mithras was celebrated, at which feast it was permitted 
to the king to drink to excess 7 but he was not allowed 
on any of these feast days to dance. 

One festival among the Persians especially worthy 
of notice, was that which was called the sack-feast. 
We will give it in the words of Dio Chrysostom. He 
introduces Diogenes in conversation with Alexander. 
" Have you never noticed the sack-feast which they 
celebrate among the Persians ? On this day they take 
a malefactor, who has deserved death, and seat him on 
the kingly throne ; in short, they play the game of 
king with him. They attired him in kingly robes, and 
suffered him to take his fill of all kinds of pleasures ; 
he was not even withheld from taking his pleasure with 
the kings concubines. But as soon as this game was 
finished, they scourged him severely with rods, and 
ended by hanging him up." This feast was conducted 
exactly like the Saturnalia of the Greeks and Romans. 
The Persians arrayed their slaves in the richest robes, 
and gave them the command of the house for five days, 
themselves obeying them for that time. We find 
many other festivals of the Persians recorded in the 
Greek historians, but we have not space to describe 
them. 

Jt is certain that the Persians were at all times ex- 
ceedingly zealous and devoted to their religion. They 
believed that men were unable of themselves to do any- 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



143 



thing well, without the assistance of God: all under- 
takings were therefore begun, with invoking the gods 
of their country ; and we have seen that their greatest 
and best monarchs, as Cyrus and Xerxes, set an example 
in this to their people. It was also permitted to no 
Persian to make an offering for himself alone; he must 
include in his prayers his king and all Persians. 

As we have shown in treating of their deities, that 
the Persians worshipped all nature, we need hardly 
add that they were seized with great dread, when they 
perceived any apparent disorder in the natural bodies. 
An eclipse of the sun or moon, an extinguished fire, or 
the like, filled all the nation with terror and awe ; for 
none but the Magi were acquainted with the causes of 
such phenomena. These clever priests knew very well 
how to turn these things to their own advantage. 
They were well acquainted with the motions of the 
heavenly bodies, and could calculate eclipses to a 
minute, and knew how to explain them in such dark 
and mysterious language, that it was received and 
revered by the common people, as oracular. They 
were regarded with great veneration among the Per- 
sians, and no offering could be made to the gods, or no 
act of public worship be performed, without the pre- 
sence of one of them. They were the privy-councillors 
of their kings, and the instructors of their princes. 
They wore white garments, the earth was their bed, 
and bread, vegetables, and cheese, their food ; for a 
walking-staff they used a reed, with a cheese stuck on 
it, of which cheese they occasionally ate. Their conse- 
cration to the service of Mithras, was accompanied with 
barbarous ceremonies. It was decreed that he who 
would be received as a priest of Mithras, must first 
endure patiently twelve torments, as hunger, thirst, fire, 
cold, stripes, &c. The novices were constrained to 
labour severely many days in digging trenches, then 



144 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



were made to pass through fire, then to dwell in perfect 
solitude, to fast for fifty days, abstaining from all food 
whatsoever. After this they were scourged, for two 
whole days, and obliged to lie twenty days and nights 
in the snow, and so forth. He who endured all these 
things manfully, and had the good fortune to come 
through them hale and sound, was held worthy to be a 
priest of Mithras. 

Dio Chrysostom gives us the following sketch of the 
origin of the magi. " At first," he says, " Zoroaster, 
from whom the magi derive their origin, on account of 
his ardent love for wisdom and righteousness, withdrew 
himself from the society of men, and for many years 
passed his life in solitude on a mountain. He after- 
wards re -appeared from this solitude, but still occupied 
himself in continual meditation, and in contemplation 
of the heaven-descended fire; nor did he hold converse 
with any but those who were best adapted by nature 
to receive the knowledge of truth, and of the Godhead, 
whereby he most skilfully laid the foundation of the 
Persian magi." 

That the magi were the inventors, or at least the 
ablest masters, of those occult sciences to which they 
have bequeathed a name, and with which, the world has 
been cheated in all ages, we find numerous testimonies 
among the authors of antiquity. Of their prophesying, 
JElian says, "The wisdom of the magi is so great, that 
among the rest, they can foretel future events." Strabo 
says, that among the Persians, the magi were called magi- 
cians, sorcerers, interpreters of dreams, and water-pro- 
phets. Pliny adds, that they always drank of the herb 
Thcangclis when they prophesied, and of the herb 
Aglaophontis when they invoked spirits. Velleius 
Paterculus asserts that they practised physiognomy 
and palmistry. And Valerius Maximus, among 
others, gives the following account of their divination : 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



145 



Before Xerxes destroyed Athens, and while he was 
taking counsel about falling upon the Lacedaemonians, 
an extraordinary sign manifested itself to him ; the 
wine with which they had filled the king's cup, was 
thrice changed into blood. This was without doubt 
the work of the magi, who then addressed the king, to 
turn him from his undertaking. 

Antiquity speaks loudly of the singular temperance and 
continence of the magi. Clemens Alexandrinus says, 
"They impose upon themselves a strict abstinence from 
wine, flesh, and women." He is of opinion also, that 
from this cause, they generally lived to a great age. 
Eubulus, in his history of Mithras, says that there 
were three orders of magi among the Persians ; and 
that the highest order, which was the most learned and 
eloquent, made use of no other food than meal and 
vegetables. 

The greatest and most famous philosophers of anti- 
quity made it their occupation to visit the Persian 
magi, to learn from their conversation the true happi- 
ness of a contented life, after which they all so eagerly 
sought. Pliny assures us, " that Pythagoras, Empe- 
docles, Democritus and Plato, had taken this journey, 
which might rather be called going into voluntary 
banishment, than travelling, to learn this art of content- 
ment. And on their return, they had exalted this wis- 
dom with great praise, and preserved it as a great 
mystery." Apollonius Tyanseus freely declares that 
his principal view in journeying into India, was to see 
the king, and to find out whether the wisdom taught 
by the Persian magi came up to the report everywhere 
made of it. Having thus related all which appears to 
be necessary concerning the magi, we will say a few 
words concerning Zoroaster, whose name makes so con- 
siderable a figure in Persian history. 

Zoroaster, or as the Persians call him, Zerduscht, or 

L 



146 



PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY. 



Zarduscht, is by many considered as the founder of the 
magi, but to speak with more propriety he was the 
improver and perfecter of their doctrine ; for this sect 
existed in Persia long before the time of Zoroaster, 
who, according to the general opinion, lived in the 
reign of Darius Hystaspes, king of Persia, and had, in 
his youth, acquired some knowledge of the true religion 
from some of the prophets or learned men of Israel, 
perhaps from Daniel himself, who was constituted 
chief over all the wise men, at the time of the 
Babylonish captivity. He is supposed, also, to have 
first commenced his improvement of the magian 
religion among the Medes. The magi before his 
time, acknowledged two separate first causes, — the 
light, whom they worshipped under the name of the 
good God, from whom came all good; and the dark- 
ness, or the evil God, who produced all the evil in the 
world ; and they believed that all things were produced 
by the admixture of these two opposite principles. 
Zoroaster made them acquainted with a great first 
cause, far above both these, namely the God who 
created both the light and darkness* ; and afterwards, 
out of these, according to his own good pleasure, made 
the world, and all things therein. Moreover, wherever 
he came, he caused them to build temples for the holy 
fire, which before his time, stood on altars in the open 
air, merely enclosed with gratings, and was subject to 
be frequently quenched by rain and storms. 

* Zoroaster appears to have learnt this from the prophet 
Isaiah. See chap. xlv. 5 and 7. 



147 



Section IY. 
GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION'. 

After examining the mythology of Egypt, of India r 
and of Persia, that of Greece seems of a totally new 
kind ; ideas are presented to us of a more brilliant 
nature, and in the place of gloom and dimness, all is 
light, gay, and sparkling. Greece, by the splendour of 
her ancient literature, exerted an influence upon the 
world, which, considering the size and real importance 
of the country, seems little short of miraculous. All 
that we know of ancient history, save that which we 
derive from the Scriptures of truth, comes down to us 
through the medium of this cultivated and intellectual 
people, and as they deemed themselves the only en- 
lightened nation upon earth, so they have taken but 
little pains to make us really acquainted with the his- 
tory, the religion, and the customs of foreign lands. 
Their writers had to please a people who were fully 
convinced of their own immeasureable superiority — 
they were not a little tinctured themselves with the 
same feelings of national vanity, and accordingly they 
praised or blamed, as the institutions of other lands 
did or did not correspond with their own. A spirit 
like this, rendered them very careless in examining the 
monuments of antiquity, unless they referred to Greece 
or her people. 

The gods of those whom they called barbarians, 
were denominated after such Greek divinity as they 

l2 



148 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



seemed to resemble, and their adventures, if they had 
any, passed over as not worth relating. Herodotus is 
one instance in point. It is true, that he says some- 
what about the mythology of Egypt, but were his 
pages the only depository of knowledge concerning it, 
all its most important tenets would be lost to the 
world. The Greeks hellenised every subject upon 
which they treated ; their philosophers, if they obtained 
their system from Egypt, propounded it as their own, 
and they claimed a priority of origin, as well as a 
priority of dignity, for everything connected with 
themselves. This is, however, not the only point in 
which the writings of ancient Greece tend to mislead 
ns with regard to their mythology ; they were peculiarly 
a poetical people, and exercising their poetical talent, 
as they did, upon their history and their mythology, it 
at last reached so great a pitch of corruption, as to be 
more than half the invention of the poets. The philo- 
sophers on the other hand, attained very early a know- 
ledge of one only God, but the declaration of this 
truth was so ill-received, and accompanied with so 
much danger to him who promulgated it, that few 
were found who dared openly to brave the powers of 
opinion; and philosophers took refuge in legends by 
which they might allegorize their views to the public, 
while in private they made their disciples acquainted 
with a purer theology than that which prevailed among 
the people. 

Cosmogony was the first science which called the 
powers of the poets into action ; the allegories in which 
former times had hidden the history of the world were 
susceptible of numberless variations. As natural phi- 
losophy became gradually cultivated, new facts were 
elicited, which required to be allegorized, to make com- 
plete the schemes already established ; discrepancies 
were to be reconciled, and thus, as the reconcilements 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



149 



so made, were often more specious than solid, the num- 
ber of discrepancies soon excited a doubt in the minds 
of those who studied the system, whether it was not 
resting altogether upon a foundation of falsehood. 
True, or false, however, it answered the ends of govern- 
ments, and they supported it ; it answered the ends of 
poets, and they used it ; it answered the ends of philo- 
sophers, and they each interpreted it according to their 
own schemes. 

With regard to its origin, it is wrapped in impene- 
trable darkness. We know, by its general resemblance, 
and by its unity in important points with other systems, 
that it is a branch of the same idolatry, and derived 
from the same source, but through what nation it was 
derived, and when it branched off, is a matter of which 
little or nothing is known. 

" Man," says Keightley, " knows no form so perfect 
or so beautiful as his own, or so well adapted to be the 
vehicle of mind. He naturally, therefore, fell into the 
habit of assigning a human form to his gods, — but a 
human form divested of weakness and imperfection, 
and raised to his highest ideal of beauty, strength, and 
power, yet still varying according to the character and 
occupation of the deity on whom it was bestowed. 
Thus the Grecian votary received manly strength and 
vigour as the leading attributes of the god who pre- 
sided over war, and inspired daring thoughts, while in 
the god of archery and music, beauty and strength 
appeared united. Dignity, and majesty of mien and 
countenance, distinguished the Father of gods and men, 
the ruler of heaven." 

This eloquent paragraph stops short, however, of the 
truth ; the knowledge that God had made man in his 
own image, was not confined to the chosen people, 
it spread with the first corruption, and made a part of 
every mythology. 



150 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



The difference between the Greeks and other nations 
was, that the former were a nation of better taste, and 
of more cultivated imagination. The Egyptians ex- 
pressed the power and character of their gods, by com- 
pounding the human with the brute form ; the Indians, 
by the preposterous multiplication of heads and limbs ; 
the Greek sculptors were too well versed in anatomy, 
to perpetuate such monsters as these: they knew that 
power was not so obtained, and they invested the crea- 
tions of poetic fancy with the perfections of mortal 
beauty. The mysteries which derived their origin from 
Egypt and India, had some effect in reconciling the 
mythology of the poets with the cosmogony of the 
philosophers. By these, which on account of their 
secresy could be altered and modified at the discretion 
of the hierophants, causes could be assigned for known 
effects, explanations could be given of popular fables, 
and if the reconcilement offered involved any diffi- 
culty, it was charged upon the imperfection of allegory, 
and the infancy of science. The gods which had been 
worshipped in the early times, were now invested with 
the attributes, and decorated with the glories, of deities 
taken from other lands, two or three gods were amal- 
gamated into one, and a new state of Greek mythology 
presents itself to the observer. 

This stage, in which poetry and sculpture, were the 
agents of change, gives us that picture of Hellenistic 
Pantheism, in which it shone with the greatest lustre. 
All the gods were at the service of all the poets, and 
all the sculptors ; and these men, the most eminent in 
their departments, that the world ever saw, considering 
the pantheon but as materials for their use, worked it 
up into those gorgeous productions of genius which 
live and burn, even in our day. But that state of 
cultivation which could produce an iEschylus and a 
Phidias, a Sophocles and a Praxiteles, was not likely 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



151 



to be without philosophers, who would regard mytho- 
logy, partly as the allegorical representation of facts 
physical and ethical, and partly as the work of the 
poetic genius of Greece. It was not, however, till the 
time of the Ptolemies, that there existed a focus of learn- 
ing, bright enough, and powerful enough, to converge 
into itself the scattered literature of the then semi- 
civilised world. The library at Alexandria had this 
effect, and mythology w T as now openly examined by 
philosophy, as well as greatly adorned by genius. The 
allegorical and the historical modes of explaining it 
rose at once. Of these, we shall have occasion to treat 
in the last section of this work, and we have already 
incidentally touched upon them. They both very rea- 
sonably explain some fables, and very unreasonably 
others — they should be taken together, and the primae- 
val traditions] of mankind will, with their help, ex- 
plain all the mass of fable, which must otherwise 
remain in the chaos which it at first presents. The 
principal advocate of the historical mode of explana- 
tion, is Euhemerus, and there is in Keightley's w r ork so 
good an analysis of his book, and so brief a one, that 
the reader will not be displeased to see it here : — 

" Euhemerus asserted, that having occasion to make 
a voyage in the Eastern Ocean, in the service of Cas- 
sander, he came, after several days' sail, to an island, 
named Panchaea. The inhabitants of this happy isle 
were distinguished for their piety, and the isle itself 
for its fertility and beauty, in the description of which, 
the writer exerted all the powers of his imagination. 
At the distance of several miles from the chief town, 
he says, lay a sacred grove, composed of trees of every 
kind, tall cypresses, myrtles, palms, and every species 
of fruit tree, among which ran rivulets of the purest 
water. A spring within the sacred district poured 
forth water, in such abundance, as to form a navigable 



152 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



river, named the Water of the Sun, which meandered 
along, and fructified the whole region. It was shaded 
by luxuriant groves, in which, during the days of sum- 
mer, dwelt numbers of men, while birds of the richest 
plumage, and most melodious throats, built their nests 
in the branches, and delighted the hearer with their 
song; verdant meads adorned with various flowers, 
climbing vines, and trees loaded with every kind of 
delicious fruit, everywhere met the view in this para- 
dise. 

f The inhabitants of this island were divided into 
priests, cultivators, and warriors. All things were in 
common, except the house and garden of each. The 
duty of the priests, was to sing the praises of the gods, 
and to act as judges and magistrates. A double share 
of every thing fell to them. The task of the military 
was to defend the island against the incursions of 
pirates, to which it was exposed. The garments of all 
were of the finest and whitest wool, and they wore 
rich ornaments of gold. The priests were distinguished 
by their raiment of pure white linen, and their bon- 
nets of gold tissue. They derived their lineage from 
Crete, whence they had been brought by Zeus, after he 
had succeeded his predecessors, Uranus and Kronus, 
in the government of the world. In the midst of the 
grove already mentioned, and at a ^distance of sixty 
stadia from the chief town, was a magnificent temple, 
sacred to Tryphylian Zeus, erected to the god while 
he was yet among them; and on a golden pillar, in the 
temple, the deeds of Uranus, Zeus. Artemis, and Apollo, 
had been inscribed by Hermes, in Panchaeic characters, 
which, says the relater, were the same with the sacred 
characters of the Egyptian priests. Zeus had, accord- 
ing to this monument, been the most potent of monarchs. 
The chief seat of his dominion had been Crete, where 
he died, and was buried, after having made five pro- 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



153 



gresses through the world, all whose kings feared and 
obeyed him/' 

" The object of Euhemerus," continues Keightley, 
" in inventing this Utopia, which, by the way, many 
navigators sought after, but no one ever found, was 
evidently to give a blow to the popular religion, and 
even to make it ridiculous; for, though he seems to have 
treated some of the higher gods, as Zeus, for example, 
with some degree of respect, he was less particular 
with the inferior ones, and with the heroes. Thus, of 
Aphrodite, he says, that she was the first who reduced 
gallantry to an art, and made a trade of it, that she 
might not appear more wanton than other women. Cad- 
mus was cook to a king of Sidon, and he ran away with 
Harmonia, a female flute player. The work of Euhe- 
merus was vehemently attacked by all who retained a 
veneration for the old religion, and the writer himself 
stigmatised as an atheist; but it exerted a great influ- 
ence over the subsequent historians, as we may perceive 
in the case of Diodorus of Sicily." 

A few remarks on the nature of the gods will be 
requisite, before we proceed to those fables in which 
they are the actors. The pure monotheism which is at 
the bottom of all mythology, is, of course, the less to 
be perceived, in proportion as the mythology itself con- 
sists of the inventions of poets, and as the Greek 
mythology is peculiarly in this condition, so the traces 
of that more rational creed are lighter than in any 
other system. In fact, it is in the writings of pro- 
fessed philosophers alone, that we can find it distinctly 
avowed. 

The gods whose history and adventures we are now 
about to investigate, are but a loftier kind of men, 
having the same form, and subject to the same passions. 
They were liable to pain and sorrow, and deception 
and disappointment ; they were, many of them, grossly 



154 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



licentious, and even disgustingly filthy in their sup- 
posed habits, and though called immortal, were only 
beings of a longer duration than the men who wor- 
shipped them. 

In this section, the Greek names will be used instead 
of the Latin ones — a method adopted by Thirl wall and 
Keightley, and recommended by its accuracy and pro- 
priety. Zeus and Jupiter were not the same divinity ; 
nor were Artemis and Diana, Ares and Mars, Hera 
and Juno. The Roman deities will be considered 
separately, and their difference explained. Homer and 
Hesiod give that view of Greek mythology which will 
generally be kept in sight in the following pages. This 
is at once the most pure, the most simple, and the 
most elegant scheme which it ever displayed, and 
consequently the most worthy the attention of the 
reader. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE THE0G0NY AND CHIEF GODS OF THE GREEKS, 

From the marriage of Uranus and Gaia, (Heaven and 
Earth,) sprang Kronus, (Time,) — that is, Time com- 
menced when the Heavens and the Earth being united 
in one universe, the creation was complete. Time 
flowing on, Kronus was married to Rhea, (flowing,) 
and subsequently destroyed all his children, saving 
three sons and three daughters, who were preserved by 
the art of Rhea. It seems that the oracle of some 
elder god had declared that Kronus should be dethroned 
by o7ie of his sons; and he, willing to avert, or at all 
events to delay the fulfilment of this prediction, caused 
his newly-born children to be brought to him, and 



OF THE THEOGONY. 



swallowed tliem. Grieved at the destruction of her 
offspring, Rhea determined to cheat her husband, when 
next he intended to indulge this carnivorous propen- 
sity. At the birth of Zeus, she presented him with a 
stone wrapped up in the swaddling-clothes of an infant, 
and Kronus, who seems never to have attempted any 
investigation, swallowed the cheat and the stone toge- 
ther, and the infant Zeus was sent to Crete, to be edu- 
cated by the nymphs on Mount Ida. A second recourse 
to the same artifice saved Poseidon, and a third, Hades. 
Hera was subsequently born ; and was, perhaps, as a 
daughter, acknowledged; but on this topic we are 
told nothing. Demeter and Hestia were the other 
daughters. 

Zeus being come to man's estate, discovered the 
secret of his birth, and prayed to be received as the 
son of Kronus; the latter, dreading the fulfilment of 
the prediction, refused, and a war ensued, in which the 
Kronides, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, defeated Kronus 
and the Uranides, or Titans, and divided the empire of 
the world among them. Zeus claiming heaven and 
earth, Poseidon becoming the ruler of the sea, and 
Hades assuming the government of hell. Under this 
government it is that we shall contemplate the celestial 
hierarchy of Greece, just observing that Chaos was the 
first divinity, whose offspring were Gaia, Tartarus, and 
Eros — that is, Earth, Hell, and Love, — Erebus, and 
Nyx, (Darkness and Night.) These two latter, were 
the parents of Hemura (Day) and (Ether, of Death, 
Sleep, and Dreams, and many allegorical beings. Gaia 
produced Uranus, and by their marriage were born the 
Titans, twelve in number, the Cyclops, and the Hun- 
dred-handed. These were all objects of dislike to 
Uranus, who shut them up in the centre of the earth; 
Gaia pitying their condition, furnished them with iron, 
with which they made a sickle, and determined to rebel 



156 



GREEK MYTIIOLOGY. 



against their unnatural father, but when the time for 
action came, all save Kronus were seized with fear, 
and he, the youngest of the Titans, deposed his sire, 
and took upon himself the government of the universe, 
only to he, in his turn, deposed by Zeus. 

Recurring to the occasion of the monarchy of Zeus, 
it may be observed, that, not only is the triad of the 
Kronides to be found in holy writ, in the persons of 
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, but the whole episode of the 
oracle seems to bear a reference to another event re- 
lated in Scripture, and to bring the account still closer 
to its origin than the more ancient Indian legend of 
Kali. 

The prediction that time should be destroyed, and 
the prince of this world overthrown by him who 
should appear as one of time's offspring, was well 
known, though in a corrupted form, by the heathen ; 
it formed a part of every scheme, and was more or less 
clearly noticed in proportion to the purity or corrup- 
tion of the system ; it is, therefore, a matter of sur- 
prise to find it so plainly indicated in a mythology 
which owes so much to the embellishments of poetry. 
Zeus, the chief of the divinities, and who was called 
by Homer the king and father of gods and men, had 
pre-eminence over his' brothers, Poseidon and Hades. 
His abode was on the summit of Olympus, where he 
held his divine court with all imaginable splendour. 
A few lines from Homer will be more to the purpose 
here than any long and laboured description : 

"Thus spake Hephaestus, and the white-armed goddess 
Hera smiled, and smiling she took from her son s hand 
the goblet, and he, beginning at the right hand, poured 
out for all the other gods, from the bowl pouring sweet 
nectar ; but there arose an irrepressible laugh among 
the blessed gods, when through the palace they beheld 
Hephaestus waiting on them. And thus all the day 



OF THE THEOGONY. 



157 



till the sunset they feasted, nor was aught wanting to 
the sufficient banquet — not the beautiful lyre which 
Apollo held, nor the Muses, responding one to another 
with a sweet voice. But when the glorious light of 
the sun went down, each one went to his rest in his 
own abode, which Hephaestus, the skilful architect, had 
contrived for each ; and Zeus went to his own couch 
on the starry Olympus, where before-times he reclined 
when soft slumber seized upon him ; thither ascending, 
he slept, and near him, the golden-throned Hera/' In 
this blessed abode the deities lived, as the Greek chief- 
tains of the period did on earth ; they had their cabals 
and their quarrels, and Zeus, though generally an easy 
monarch, was sometimes compelled to assert, in pretty 
strong terms, his own sovereignty. His offspring by 
Hera was small; Hephaestus, the celestial architect, 
Ares, the god of war, and the Eileithyise, comprise the 
whole catalogue. The amours of Zeus with other god- 
desses, with nymphs, and with mortal women, which 
are^ almost innumerable, produced half the heroes of 
the fabulous ages. Euronyme was the mother of the 
Graces ; Mnemosyne, of the Muses ; Leto, of Apollo 
and Artemis ; Demeter, of Persephone ; Io% of Epa- 
phus ; Semele, of Dionysus ; Dione, of Aphrodite ; 
Maia, of Hermes ; Danae, of Perseus ; and Alcmena, 
of Hercules. 

To relate the history of these adventures would com- 
port neither with the intention nor the limits of this 

1 * Io, the daughter of Inachus, and the mother of Epaphus, 
was changed into a cow by Zeus. Now Epaphus was an 
Egyptian deity, for we find from Herodotus, that bulls in that 
country were sacred to him. Io was also of Egyptian origin, 
but there is a further proof of this in the fact, that before the 
adoption of the name Isis, that goddess was called I oh ; this 
name, with the story of her having her head changed into that 
of a cow, gives a resemblance to the Greek Io, too great to be 
merely accidental. 



158 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



work ; a short account of Semele will be sufficient. 
Zeus, to obtain lier love, took the shape of a man, and 
not the slightest reason for this disguise was that he 
might the more readily escape the jealous eye of Hera. 
He did not, however, conceal from Semele his name 
and rank. The precaution he had taken was in vain : 
Hera suspected, and soon discovered the intrigue, and, 
well knowing how vain it would be to make any at- 
tempt upon Zeus himself, she determined to punish 
him through the medium of her rival. Assuming the 
form of an old woman, Seraele's nurse, she instigated 
her to demand as a favour from Zeus, the next time 
he visited her, a manifestation of his glory as the thun- 
dering god. Zeus, who saw the influence as well as 
the object of Hera in this request, endeavoured in vain 
to dissuade Semele from her demand, but he had in- 
cautiously sworn by Styx, and this was an oath which 
not Zeus himself dared to break. He accordingly ar- 
rayed himself in his robes of light, grasped the thunder 
in his hand, and displayed himself to the astonished 
Semele as the Olympians were accustomed to behold 
him. But no mortal could gaze on the glory of the 
deity and live. Semele was consumed to ashes in the 
too-fearful blaze, and Zeus enclosed the yet unborn 
Dionysus in his own body. 

The weapons with which this mighty divinity was 
usually represented, are the thunderbolt and the aegis, 
a shield which struck terror into all who beheld it, and 
which was rendered yet more dreadful by having fixed 
in its centre the gory head of Medusa. At his feet 
stood the eagle, his favourite bird, and, not unfre- 
quently, the sceptre is placed in his hand. The coun- 
tenance of Zeus is depicted as mild but grave, and very 
dignified. The oak among trees, as the eagle among 
birds, was consecrated to him. His chief temple was 
at Olympia, in Elis, his chief oracle at Dodona; and 



OF THE THE0G0NY. 



159 



the principal games established in his honour were the 
Olympic, which were celebrated at the city of Olympia 
every fourth year. 

Poseidon, the majestic god of the sea, next claims 
our attention. He was represented of a mild and se- 
rene countenance, of great strength and dignity. In 
his hand is placed the trident, the symbol of his ma- 
rine empire, and around him are generally seen dol- 
phins and other productions of the sea. His queen, 
Amphitrite, was celebrated for her beauty, and by her 
he had Triton and Rhode. His amours, like those of 
Zeus his brother, were numerous, as were his issue by 
them. Pelias and Neleus were the most remarkable. 
At the bottom of the sea, near iEgee, he had a splen- 
did palace, and here he held a sort of submarine court, 
as the sea Zeus, but he was generally to be found in 
his place on Olympus. 

This god and Apollo were once banished together 
from the divine abodes, and compelled to dwell for a 
hundred years among men. While on earth they 
built the walls of Troy for Laomedon, having first 
agreed at what rate they were to be paid ; but Laome- 
don, who was no regarder of treaties, not only refused 
to pay what he had agreed, but even went the length 
of declaring that he would cut off the ears of the two 
gods, and tie them together hand and foot. In revenge 
Apollo sent a pestilence, and Poseidon a sea monster, 
who carried off the Trojans by scores. The oracle de- 
clared, that until Hesione, the daughter of Laomedon, 
was offered to it, the monster would never cease its 
devastations. A fresh treaty, in which Hercules was 
the assisting party, secured the destruction of the mon- 
ster; but when this treaty was also broken by the 
faithless monarch, his own life, and the lives of all his 
family, save Hesione and Priam, were exacted as the 
forfeit of his perjury. 



160 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



Hades, the third .brother of this divine triad, was 
the king of the infernal regions; he is described as 
severe and stern in aspect, inexorable in disposition, 
and disliked by every being. This latter misfortune 
prevented his suit to all the goddesses in succession 
from being successful, and it was only by the forcible 
abduction of Persephone that he obtained a consort for 
his gloomy life. Of his amours, besides this, we are 
told nothing, nor of his offspring. The rape of Perse- 
phone is the only adventure related of this fearful 
divinity which approaches him to the gay and profli- 
gate spirits of Olympus. Her he seized on while ga- 
thering flowers with her companions, and carried her 
off to his subterranean palace. 

We shall, in another place, relate some particulars 
of the search after her, instituted by her disconsolate 
mother Demeter ; here it will be sufficient to say, that 
she remained with her ghastly lord, and soon partook 
of that cold sternness which characterised his rule. 
They are represented generally together, and sculpture 
as well as poetry delights in exhibiting the gay and 
laughing maiden, whose joy was in the flowery plains 
of Sicily, changed into the stately and severe queen of 
the infernal Zeus. Hades is represented as crowned, 
and holding in his hand the sceptre ; sometimes he is 
in a chariot drawn by sable horses ; sometimes on the 
throne of his dark dominions. His hair is black, his 
complexion dark, his aspect severe, and his eyes flash- 
ing ; he is frequently seen with a two-pronged fork in 
his hand, and his helmet (which rendered the wearer 
invisible) on his head. 



161 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE SUBORDINATE DEITIES OF OLYMPUS. 

The list commences with Ares, the god of war, the son 
of Zeus and Hera, or, according to others, of Hera 
alone. As might he expected, his character was fierce 
and intractable, brute valour being his chief distin- 
guishing attribute. This is finely represented through 
the Iliad, as opposed to the calm deliberate courage of 
Pallas-Athena, and, in fact, the two deities seem to be 
but personifications of those qualities. 

Ares fled sometimes even from men in the battle, 
and, when w T ounded, is made to roar in a most appalling 
manner. He appears in Homer rather stupid, and is 
more than once made a butt for the practical jokes of 
the other deities ; in these cases he is, by his violent 
and: testy temper, ever made the more absurd. "When 
the Greek sculptors had occasion to represent him, 
which was not often, he appears dressed in armour, of 
an aspect rather fierce than stern, and not unfrequently 
standing in a war chariot. 

A more important personage, is the lame deity of 
fire, Hephaestus ; he was the architect of the gods, 
a sort of celestial Tubal Cain, from whose history his 
own is probably derived. In his images he appears as 
a man of mature age, in the habit and about the work 
of a smith ; the Cyclops, his companions, are frequently 
placed near him. His lameness is accounted for in 
two ways. Some writers speak of him as having been 
born so, and that Hera, disgusted with the defect of her 
son, flung him over the threshold of heaven. Others 
relate a legend far more creditable, viz. ; that Zeus 
and Hera having had a very severe quarrel, Zeus sus- 
pended his queen by the feet from Olympus, and He- 

M 



162 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



phrestus incurred the anger of Zeus for having relieved 
his divine mother from this eminently disagreeable 
situation. Taking him by the feet, the Olympian ruler 
flung him down to the earth. After a fall of nine 
days, he pitched on the isle of Lemnos, when he broke 
his leg, and was ever after lame. Lemnos became his 
favourite abode on earth, and Etna was spoken of as 
his chief forge. 

When it is recollected that the early poets invariably 
speak of him as making all the wonders of celestial 
machinery with his own hand, it will be plain, that 
some such forge as this, and some such assistants as 
the Cyclops, were necessary for the divine workman. 

Some of these performances will be briefly noticed. 
The houses, arms, chariots, and ornaments of the gods 
were all his work, as well as those golden soles by 
which they walked without fatigue and without diffi- 
culty through the air, over the water, and over the 
earth. The brazen-footen bulls of GEetes, and the 
brazen-footed horses of the gods, were evidences of his 
skill in farriery ; while the golden dogs which guarded 
the treasures of Alcinous, and the golden maidens who 
waited on himself, equally prove his talent in the for- 
mation of automata. The brazen man Talus, whom 
he gave to Minos, king of Crete, to guard the shores of 
that island, w r as, however, the most remarkable effort 
of his power in this department. Talus had but one 
vein in his body, which reached from his neck to his 
heels, and this was filled with ichor, the fluid which 
circulated instead of blood in the veins of the immor- 
tals ; in the neck was a brazen stopper, by which it 
was prevented from escaping ; and by means of this 
liquor he lived, moved, spake, and reasoned. When 
the Argonauts came to Crete, Talus pelted them with 
stones, and prevented their landing; but at last Medea 
cajoled him as she did Pelias, and under the pretext of 



DEITIES OF OLYMPUS. 



163 



making him immortal, she drew out the stopper, and 
the mystic fluid ran out. 

Hephaestus, the most ungainly of the gods, obtained 
the hand of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, but was 
by no means happy in his domestic relations. 

We pass to Apollo, the presiding deity of music and 
poetry, of medicine and archery, and who is also the 
same as Helius, the god of the sun. 

It is curious that all sudden deaths should be attri- 
buted to the god of medicine ; but so it was, and the 
usual manner in which he visited a people with his 
displeasure, was by sending among them a plague. In 
the first book of Homer, he is thus magnificently intro- 
duced as answering the prayers of Chryses, his priest. 
" Thus he (the priest) prayed, and Phoebus Apollo heard 
him ; and he went down from the peaks of Olympus, 
angry in his heart, bearing on his shoulders his bow 
and his well-guarded quiver ; but as he descended, the 
arrows rattled upon the shoulders of the angry god, 
and he came on like the night. Then afar from the 
ships he sat down, and shot forth his arrow, and ter- 
rible was the twanging of the silver bow ; first, indeed, 
he smote the mules and the fierce dogs ; but then, 
sending forth his deadly arrow upon (the Greeks) 
themselves, he struck them, and even the pyres of the 
dead flamed frequent." 

The circumstances of his birth will be related when 
we come to speak of Leto, and we shall now consider 
him as the acknowledged son of Zeus, and the ruler of 
the day. His principal exploit was the slaying of the 
great serpent Pytho, which was devastating the neigh- 
bourhood of Crissa; here he erected a temple by the 
aid of Trophonius and Agamedes, and changing him- 
self into a dolphin, he got on board a Cretan ship, 
which he brought to Crissa, and consecrated the cap- 
tain and mariners as priests of the new temple. Of 

M 2 



164 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



his offspring, Asclepius (or, as the Romans called him, 
iEsculapius, who was peculiarly the god of medicine,) 
and Phaeton were the chief. Orpheus and Aristaeus 
were also his sons. 

The adventure of Phaeton is one of the most inte- 
resting preserved hy the poets. The claim which he 
made to a divine origin was disputed hy Epaphus, the 
son of Zeus ; and Phaeton, anxious to clear up the 
matter, applied to his mother Clymene, she referred 
him to Apollo, and to Apollo accordingly he went. 
His kind and flattering reception emboldened him to 
make a request, which Apollo, as a proof of his pater- 
nity, incautiously swore to grant. Phaeton now de- 
manded that he might guide ^he car f the sun for a 
day, to which Phcebus was obliged, though reluctantly, 
to agree. The consequences were as he anticipated. 
The fiery steeds felt they were no longer under the con- 
trol of their master, became totally unmanageable, and 
rushed down towards the earth. Universal destruction 
would now have ensued, had not Zeus, at the prayer 
of the earth, launched his thunderbolt at the too as- 
piring youth, and cast him into the river Po. Grieved 
at the loss of his son, Apollo refused any longer to 
drive the chariot of the sun, nor was it until Zeus had 
amply apologized, and all the gods had soothed him, 
that he resumed his important office. 

Homer makes a difference between Helius, the sun- 
god, and Apollo, the deity of prophecy and poetry ; 
afterwards they were united in the same person. 

Apollo, an object of such general adoration through- 
out Greece, was often represented by the sculptors, as 
well as celebrated by the poets. He is then made to 
appear as a young man of more than mortal beauty, 
holding in his hand his bow, with his quiver on his 
shoulder, and his hair bound with laurel. 

Another son of Zeus, Hermes, the offspring of Maia, 



DEITIES OF OLYMPUS. 



165 



is a more remarkable personage even than Apollo. It 
is yery difficult to say at what time the character of 
this deity became fully formed, out of those several 
parts "which compose it: one part is derived from the 
Egyptian Anubis, and one part from an old divinity of 
the Pelasgians. His birth and adventures are very 
pleasingly told in the Homeric Hymn ; he there appears 
well entitled to be called the god of theft, of cunning, 
of eloquence, of barter, and of cattle, and wealth. No 
sooner was the new-born god laid in his cradle on 
Mount Cyllene, than he arose for the purpose of stealing 
the oxen of Apollo in Pieria. As he went on to put 
this intention in practice, he saw a tortoise with whom 
he held a long conversation, and having at last fully 
succeeded in persuading the tortoise that it would be 
greatly for the benefit of the world at large that the 
tortoise should die, and a phorminx, or lyre, be made of 
his shell, the tortoise exhibited a most laudable spirit 
of -universal philanthropy, and submitted to the knife 
of Hermes, who made the lyre, and by his perform- 
ances attracted the applause of all things animate and 
inanimate around him. He now proceeded on his 
expedition, bound twigs around his feet to disguise his 
footsteps, and having made choice of fifty beautiful 
cows, dragged them backwards to a cave. Apollo, 
however, was a difficult god to deceive, and he, sus- 
pecting the infant Hermes, taxed him with the theft. 
The precocious robber innocently asked what cows 
were ; but his cunning availed him nothing, for he was 
taken from his cradle and carried before Zeus to answer 
for his deeds. When he began to play on his tortoise- 
shell lyre, the heart of Apollo was softened, and he 
gave up the oxen to Hermes, together with his divine 
cattle whip, and ample instructions for their manage- 
ment, in exchange for the lyre. To this Hermes con- 
sented, and both parties remained satisfied. 



166 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



The chief offices of this god were to be the messenger 
of Zeus, and to conduct the souls of men to their des- 
tination in another world. In this particular he is 
merely a hellenized Anuhis. As the symbol and in- 
strument of this office, he bears a rod twined round 
with serpents, and having wings at the top. By this, 
which is called the caduceus, he commands the dis- 
embodied spirits; he causes sleep to fall on the body, 
and separates the soul from its material dwelling. 
When we come to consider the origin and spread of 
serpent-worship, we shall have occasion to quote such 
writers as will show the introduction of this reptile to 
be never a mere accident, and in the present instance 
there seems every reason to believe that we have a 
modified copy of the rod of Moses. 

Hermes was the favourite companion of Zeus in his 
incognito visits to the earth. A pleasing example is 
found in the history of Baucis and Philemon, a good 
old couple, who retained their virtue when all around 
were sunk in profligacy. The gods above mentioned 
being inhospitably repulsed by the richer and more 
powerful, took shelter in the humble cottage of Phile- 
mon, who set before them such fare as his simple style 
of living permitted. The divine nature of his visitants 
was soon evinced by the undiminished quantity and 
improved qualit} T of the wine in the pitcher out of 
which they drank. The old man and his wife were 
anxious to pay them the honours due to their rank, 
but they were prevented from so doing by the ven- 
geance which the gods immediately took on the de- 
praved and inhospitable city. When the aged couple 
looked for it, they saw only a stagnant lake, beneath 
the dead waters of which were plunged its domes and 
palaces ; their own cottage was changed into a temple, 
themselves appointed priest and priestess; and, after a 
long life, they were at once changed into trees, which 



DEITIES OF OLYMPUS, 



167 



overshadowed the porch of the sacred structure. This 
tale is hut a variation of the history of that fearful 
visitation by which Sodom and Gomorrha were plunged 
beneath the waters of the Dead Sea : Zeus and Hermes 
fill the parts of the two angels; Philemon and Baucis 
those of Lot and his wife; perhaps also the change 
into trees may he hut another version of that change 
which Lot's wife underwent. 

Hermes is represented by the sculptors as a beau- 
tiful young man, naked, with the caduceus in his hand, 
wings on his feet, and a cap with wings on his head ; 
this cap was called petasus, and the wings on the feet 
talaria; sometimes he is dressed in a sort of cloak. 
By Aphrodite he became the father of Hermaphroditus ; 
and by Herse, of Cephalus. Some writers also make 
him the father of Pan and Terminus. 

Dionysus, the god of wine, whose birth has been 
already mentioned, was brought up by the nymphs in 
tibe island of Naxos. Struck with his beauty, some 
pirates landing on that island carry off the divine 
infant; and, after some attempts at soothing him in 
vain, laugh at his distress. The mast of their vessel 
suddenly assumes the appearance of a vine, while its 
tendrils take the place of cordage; the mariners are 
changed into tigers and leopards, the monsters of the 
sea come round in joy and adoration, and, attended by 
this retinue, Dionysus returns to Naxos. After this, 
we find him conquering all India; his exploits in which 
expedition form the subject of a long and interesting 
poem by Nonnus, called the Dionysiacs. This deity 
was represented as a young man, beautiful but effemi- 
nate, crowned with vine-leaves and ivy, and having a 
panther at his feet. His festivals, called the Dionysia?, 
will be noticed in another place, as will the labours of 
Hercules, with whose name we close this chapter. 

He was considered as the god of strength, and repre- 
sented accordingly: on his shoulders he bore the skin 



1G8 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



of the Nemaean lion, which he had slain, and in his 
hand a club: he was the son of Zeus by Alcmena, the 
wife of Amphitryon, whose form Zeus assumed, to 
deceive Alcmena. The amours of Hercules were more 
distinguished by sincerity than by prudence, and it 
seems that the character and exploits of Samson have 
not been much altered in the case of the Greek divinity. 
He first married Megara, the daughter of Creon, but 
of her we hear no more, save that, in a fit of madness, 
Hercules threw the three children he had by her into 
the fire. He was afterwards attached to Omphale, 
queen of Lydia, to whom he was sold as a slave by 
Hermes, and in this situation he was set to work at 
spinning among the handmaids of that queen. After 
this he married Dejanira, the daughter of iEneas, king 
of Calydon. Having to cross a river in her company, 
he was met by the centaur Nessus, who offered his 
assistance in carrying Dejanira. Hercules confided his 
wife to the centaur, but before they reached the other 
side of the river, the centaur offered violence to his 
charge. Hercules slew him with an arrow dipped in 
the blood of the Lernsean hydra, and this action was 
ultimately the cause of his own death. Nessus had 
assured Dejanira that should the affection of her hus- 
band ever waver, she had only to cause him to put on 
that shirt which he (the centaur) then wore, and his 
love would immediately be made stronger than ever. 
This shirt was, however, tinged with the poisonous 
blood of the hydra, and certainly fatal to whom- 
soever should wear it. At a period considerably sub- 
sequent, Hercules having taken prisoner a princess of 
great beauty, was about to offer sacrifices to the gods 
for his victories. He sent for a splendid robe; Deja- 
nira sent him the fatal shirt, which he put on, and 
when he felt his end approach, cast himself on a fune- 
ral pyre, and was burnt: he then ascended to heaven, 
and was married to Hebe, the goddess of youth. 



GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS. 



169 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS. 

Of the Greek goddesses, Hera, the sister and queen of 
Zeus, is of course the chief. The personification of 
chaste and matronly dignity, she is usually represented 
as seated on a throne, or in her chariot drawn by pea- 
cocks, stately and majestic in person, and unblemished 
in character. In consequence of this, there are com- 
paratively few adventures in which she bears a part. 
The side she took in the siege of Troy will be noticed 
in another chapter; and, besides this, the only circum- 
stance worth recording is the birth of Ares. Hera 
was jealous that Zeus had become the sire of Pallas- 
Athena without her aid, and complained to Chloris, 
the flower-goddess; that divinity pointed out to her a 
flower, by touching which she became a mother, and 
gave birth to Ares. Wearied, however, at last with 
the continued infidelities of Zeus, she determined to 
separate altogether from him, and accordingly retired 
to Eubcea. Zeus now dressed a statue as a princess, 
and pretended that it was to her that he was about to 
transfer the dignity of being his consort. Hera, enraged 
to the last degree, rushed upon her supposed rival, and 
tore away the ornaments which adorned her; but when 
she found that her suspicions had no foundation in 
fact, she became once more reconciled to Zeus, and 
their differences were less violent in future. Hera was 
very extensively worshipped in Greece, and at the 
time of Homer Seems to have been considered as the 
tutelary spirit of that country. 

Deineter was another sister and wife of Zeus. 
Little is said of her by the poets, save in connexion 
with her daughter Persephone, the bride of Hades. 



J70 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



While wandering abont in search of her lost child, an 
adventure occurred to her, which identifies her with 
the Egyptian Isis, — an hypothesis still further strength- 
ened by the fact that Demeter is but a corruption of 
Gemeter, and signifies Mother Earth. In the shape 
of a nurse, (a form taken by Isis when searching for 
the mangled remains of Osiris,) Demeter sat down be- 
neath the shade of an olive at Eleusis. While there, 
she was accosted by the three daughters of Keleus the 
king; they tell her that their father, with four others, 
governed that city, and finally take her to their mother, 
Metaneira, who engages her to nurse her infant son, 
Demophoon. The child ate no food, but Demeter 
breathed upon him as he lay in her bosom, and anointed 
him with ambrosia. At night, when all else were 
locked in sleep, she placed him in a purifying flame, 
which was gradually consuming all the baser particles 
of his nature. By this means he would have been 
immortal, but Metaneira watching one night the pro- 
ceedings of the goddess, was so frightened at this fiery 
ordeal that she shrieked aloud. Demeter cast down 
the child, and told the mother who she was, and what 
had been her intention. A temple was erected to her 
honour by the Eleusinians, and mysteries sacred to her 
subsequently instituted in the same place. A treaty 
was entered into among the immortals, by which it 
was provided that Persephone should return and spend 
a part of every year with her mother. She would have 
been entirely rescued from the power of Hades, had 
she not incautiously swallowed a few grains of a pome- 
granate. Demeter is usually depicted of a milder 
appearance than Hera, but resembling her in gravity 
and dignity: she is crowned with poppies, and some- 
times with wheat. 

Hestia, the personification of fire, sacrificial and 
domestic, was by an obvious allegory the sister of 



GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS. 



171 



Hera, (the air,) Demeter, (the earth,) Zeus, (the 
heavens,) Hades, (the state of disembodied spirits,) 
and Poseidon, (the -water.) She is the subject of one 
only legend, — that when sought in marriage by Poseidon 
and Apollo, she placed her hand on her head, and de- 
manded of Zeus that she might ever remain a virgin. 
Zeus acceded to her request, and assigned her in return 
a high place of honour, and perpetual sacrifices. She 
was represented as a veiled female, holding in her hand 
a censer. 

The next female divinities that claim the notice of 
the student are the daughters of Zeus, viz., Pallas- 
Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Persephone. Of 
these, the last has been already considered in connexion 
with Demeter and Hades. 

Pallas-Athena, the goddess of skill and foresight, 
sprang fully armed from the head of Zeus, without the 
intervention of a mother. She is represented with a 
thoughtful and somewhat severe countenance, with 
large blue eyes, a helmet on her head, and attired in a 
breastplate, on which, or on her shield, (the celebrated 
aegis,) is placed the head of Medusa. She was the 
patroness of all female accomplishments, and was very 
jealous of her superiority in this respect. Arachne, a 
maiden who by the instructions of Athena had arrived 
at great eminence in embroidery, was so elevated with 
her skill, as to challenge her instructress to a compe- 
tition with her. Athena assumed the form of an old 
woman, and endeavoured to dissuade her from the 
attempt. Her efforts were in vain, and the trial of 
skill commenced. The inferiority of Arachne was, 
however, so evident, that when reproached for her 
temerity, she hung herself in despair. Athena changed 
her into a spider, declaring, that as a punishment, she 
should now labour in the production of works which 
no one would regard. 



172 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY, 



At Athens this goddess was regarded with peculiar 
veneration ; her temple, called the Parthenon, was the 
most remarkable edifice of ancient Greece, for its 
grace and beauty ; and she is reported to have given 
her name to the city itself, which was placed under 
her especial protection, on the following occasion. 
Poseidon and Athena disputing as to whither of them 
should name and defend the city of Cecrops : Poseidon 
struck the ground with his trident, and a beautiful 
horse, the first ever seen, sprang forth. Athena in her 
turn caused the olive to arise. The twelve gods who 
sat in judgment to decide which was the better gift to 
man, unanimously declared in favour of the olive, and 
the city was called Athenae. 

Artemis, the virgin goddess of the chase, was the 
daughter of Zeus and Leto. She made the same 
demand from Zeus as Hestia had done, and it was 
granted. Her adventures are not very numerous. She 
was worshipped as the moon under the name of Selena, 
and as the patroness of witchcraft and sorcery under 
that of Hecate. It was Artemis, who, when Acta3on 
came with his hounds past a fountain where she was 
bathing, changed the unfortunate huntsman into a stag, 
that he might not boast of what he had accidentally 
beheld ; his hounds pursued him and tore him to 
pieces. It was Artemis, however, under her name of 
Selena, who came down by night to visit her beloved 
Endymion. Niobe was a victim of the anger of this 
goddess; she had in the pride of her heart declared 
herself the mother of a more noble progeny than Leto. 
One by one the children of this princess were struck 
down by the arrows of Apollo and Artemis, and Niobe 
at last became insensible through grief, and was changed 
into stone. 

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, is one 
of the most captivating, perhaps the most captivating, 



GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS. 



of the Greek divinities. There are many accounts of her 
birth ; some saying that she was the daughter of Zeus 
and Dione, (of which goddess little more is known :) 
others, that she sprang from the blood of Uranus, 
dropped on the sea foam. As soon, however, as she 
appeared, the gods all demanded her in marriage. She 
accepted of the lame Hephaestus, but Ares, Dionysus, 
Hermes, and Poseidon, sought, and not without suc- 
cess, her love. Nor were her irregularities confined to 
the'celestials ; Anchises and Adonis*, who were mortals, 
were equally distinguished. Aphrodite possessed an 
embroidered girdle, which had the effect of making 
the wearer lovely in the eyes which she wished to 
please. Her adventures were numerous, but scanda- 
lous ; and we shall conclude this chapter with a few 
remarks on her son Eros, (Love,) who is depicted as a 
beautiful youth bending his bow. 

This divinity, the object of so many poetic tales, 
was struck with the beauty of Psyche, a royal, but 
earthly maiden. Aphrodite, who was jealous of her 
charms, commanded her son to cause Psyche to be 
enamoured of some disgusting object : he, however, 
turned her attachment upon himself, carried her off to a 
lonely place, where he prepared a stately palace for her 
reception. Moved by her entreaties, he at last suffered 
her sisters to visit her, and they soon inspired her with 
distrust of her celestial bridegroom. Expecting to 
find some monstrous deformity, she took a lamp and 
went to the couch of the sleeping Eros, fully determined 
to destroy him if it should so prove. How great was 

* Though spoken of as a mortal by the Greek poets, Adonis 
was a Syrian deity and represented the sun. At the period 
of his supposed death, an annual celebration of that mournful 
event took place, much resembling that which in Egypt 
marked the time of the decease of Osiris. Both divinities 
were personifications of the same luminary. 



174 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



lier delight when she beheld the beauty of the youth- 
ful god : but her delight was of short continuance ; a 
drop of oil from her lamp fell on the shoulder of Eros ; 
he awoke, and at once the god, the palace, and the 
splendours vanished, and Psyche was left alone on the 
naked rock. She went mourning through the world, 
till Aphrodite, not yet weary of persecuting her, sent 
her on a message to Persephone. On her return she 
met with an accident which turned her black. Eros 
found her in this state, resumed his protestations of 
love, and Zeus finally consented to their union. The 
other adventures of Eros, (who is better known by his 
Latin name Cupid,) are not numerous ; they will be, 
most of them, touched on in the course of the follow- 
ing chapters. 



CHAPTER V. 

MINOR DEITJES. 

The Greeks, above all people, were inclined to multiply 
their divinities ; they had, however, a due regard to 
variety, in the additions which from time to time were 
made to the national Pantheon ; and hence, while the 
Hindoos swelled the number of divine essences, by 
reckoning millions of the same kind, the Greek poets 
had something like a separate history for each object 
of their worship. 

After those chief gods which have been already 
mentioned, come the Muses, the Graces, the Fates, and 
the Furies. The first were nine in [number, the 
daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne : their names were 
Calliope, the epic muse, who is represented by the 
sculptors with a roll of parchment and a trumpet ; 
Clio, the historic muse, who has an unfolded roll; 



MINOR DEITIES. 



175 



Melpomene, the tragic muse, veiled, and leaning on a 
club, with the tragic mask in her hand ; Euterpe, the 
muse of music, who holds two flutes ; Erato, the muse 
of lyric poetry, who has in her hand the lyre ; Terpsi- 
chore, the muse of dancing, who is known by her 
position; Urania, the muse of astronomy, distinguished 
by the globe and a rod which she uses to trace astro- 
nomic diagrams ; Thalia, the comic muse, who holds 
in one hand the comic mask, and in the other a crooked 
staff ; and Polymnia, the muse of eloquence, who has the 
forefinger of her right hand on her mouth. Pieria was 
the birthplace of the Muses, on which account they 
are frequently called Pierian goddesses, and anything 
which is connected with them, Pierian. Aganippe, 
Helicon, Castalia, and Hippocrene, are fountains sup- 
posed peculiarly sacred to them : some held, indeed, 
that drinking their waters had the effect of inspiration. 
Parnassus was their favourite resort, and the Corycian 
cave served as a retreat from the too vivid beams of 
Phoebus- Apollo, their prince. 

The offspring of the Muses were, like themselves, 
highly gifted. Linus, Orpheus, and Hyacynthus, were 
beloved by Apollo, and, particularly the two former, 
eminently skilled in music. Orpheus, the first of 
poets and the first of musicians, a strange mixture of 
truth and fable, was the husband of Eurydice, who 
died by the bite of a viper. Orpheus went to Hades, 
and entreated him to allow the return of Eurydice to 
the upper world : the request was at first refused, but 
the lays of Orpheus put an end to the punishments 
of hell, and diffused a yet unknown delight over the 
gloomy realms of Hades. Alarmed at this, the sub- 
terranean Zeus relented, and Eurydice was allowed to 
accompany her husband, on condition of his not look- 
ing back while on their way. Ere they reached the end 
of their journey, Orpheus stopped to listen if Eurydice 



176 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



were following. He heard no footsteps ; she had 
stopped also. He incautiously looked round, and 
Eurydice, once more a shadow, flitted from his sight. 
He returned to the earth, and because he refused to 
join in the orgies of the Thracian women, he was by 
them torn to pieces. 

The Syrens and the Coryhantes w r ere the children 
also of the Muses. 

The Graces, three in number, were the constant 
attendants of Aphrodite. They seem to be allegorical 
representations of glory and elegance ; they were the 
children of Zeus and Euronyme, and their names were 
Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. They are usually 
represented as naked, and dancing together. 

The Fates were also three in number ; their names 
were Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Severe in aspect 
and inexorable in character, they w T ere much venerated, 
and considered as naturally influencing the fortunes of 
men. Some looked upon them merely as personifi- 
cations of that overruling power, which, according 
to the Stoics, governed the world, and caused every 
event. Others considered them as tutelary divinities, 
presiding over the destinies of particular persons. 
Their abode w r as a cavern, in which they spun the lives 
of men ; Clotho holding the distaff, Lachesis spinning 
the thread, and Atropos cutting it off with her shears 
when the sufficient length had been spun. 

The Furies, Erinnys, or Eumenides, were goddesses 
of a more gloomy, though less awful character. They 
were the avengers of guilt, and as their habitation was 
in Tartarus, w r e shall consider them more fully when 
we speak of that terrific abode : their names were 
Alecto, Megaira, and Tisiphone, for they, like the Fates 
and the Graces, formed a triad. 

Themis, the personification of justice ; Iris, the 
messenger of the goddesses, and the peculiar attendant 



MINOR DEITIES. 



177 



of Hera, and who was also a personification of the 
rainbow ; Hypnus, (sleep,) and Thanatos, (death,) 
together with Pceon the physician of the gods, and 
Momus the god of ridicule, appear among the Greek 
divinities. 

In addition to these, there were many deities of 
evidently foreign origin, worshipped by this people. 
Isis from Egypt, and Cybele from Phrygia, were among 
the number. This latter goddess was soon confounded 
with Rhea, and called therefore the mother of the 
gods ; the name Cybele was retained, and that of 
Rhea gradually allowed to drop into disuse. She is 
represented with that staid and dignified air which 
distinguishes Hera ; her head is crowned with turrets, 
and lions are either sitting by her side, or drawing 
her car. 

Pan, the son of Hermes, was a rural deity, repre- 
sented with the lower parts of a goat and horns on his 
head. Pie was the hero of many adventures among 
the nymphs, by whom he was much feared. He was 
the inventor of the syrinx, a pipe made of seven reeds; 
for when pursuing a nymph so named, she was changed 
by Artemis into a reed ; and Pan taking the reed, and 
cutting it into seven pipes, made the instrument as a 
memorial of his fruitless love. Pan was the chief of a 
race of rural gods like himself : they were called Satyrs, 
and the idea probably arose from the shepherds, who 
wore skins, supposing these rustic divinities to resemble 
themselves. Their leader was Silenus, Pan's lieutenant, 
and the foster-father of Dionysus. Priapus, the son 
of Aphrodite and Dionysus, was the god of gardens 
and of fruitfulness in general ; he usually bears a scythe 
and a horn of plenty. 

The next class of superhuman beings whom it will 
be necessary to notice, are the Nymphs. These beau- 
tiful and interesting deities were of various orders, 

N 



178 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



according to the place of their habitation. There were 
the Oreiades, who dwelt among the mountains ; the 
Dryades, whose abode was the woods ; the Naiades, 
who lived in caves at the bottom of clear waters; the 
Hamadryades, who had the charge of particular trees, 
and died when the tree perished ; and many others. 
These were all divine in nature, and gifted with super- 
human power ; in fact, they occupied exactly the same 
rank which fairies did in the eastern romances. 

Their amours are frequently the subject of poetry, 
and their offspring were among the most renewed of 
warriors. Thetis, the Nereid, (a sea-nymph,) was the 
mother of Achilles. The tale of Alpheius and Are- 
thusa is worth preserving : this nymph being one day 
heated with the chase, threw herself into the clear stream 
of the river Alpheius. The river-god beheld and loved 
her, but Arethusa would not listen to his suit ; she hastily 
fled from his presence, naked as she was; and finding 
that Alpheius still pursued her, she besought Artemis 
to interpose, and was accordingly turned into a fountain, 
and plunged beneath the earth ; Alpheius again be- 
coming a river, rushed down the chasm and sought to 
mingle his waters with hers. The attempt was in vain ; 
through the earth and under the sea, the fountain, and 
the river rolled unmixed, till the former rose again at 
Orfcygia, opposite Syracuse; the waters of Alpheius rose 
at the same place, but unmixed ; and the poets did not 
fail to assert, that any offerings thrown into the waters 
of the river Alpheius, would reappear in Ortygia. 

The cruelties which the nymphs exhibited towards 
their lovers were sometimes retaliated upon themselves. 
Echo was an instance of this ; she more than once 
detained Hera by her conversation, when that goddess 
was in search of Zeus, so that Zeus, who was prose- 
cuting some intrigue, had time to baffle the quick- 
sightedness of his consort. Angry with the conduct 



MINOR DEITIES. 



179 



of Echo, Hera declared that henceforth she should 
lose the power of speaking for herself, and be only 
able to repeat such words as she heard. At length 
she became enamoured of Narcissus, the beautiful son 
of Cephissus and Leiriope. After watching for some 
time an opportunity of accosting him, she was enabled 
to do so : but Narcissus did not return her love, and 
the unhappy nymph pined away till her yoice alone 
w r as left. Narcissus met with a similar fate through 
love for his own image, winch he beheld in a fountain ; 
he was at last changed into the flower that bears his 
name. 

The Oceanides and the Nereides w r ere sea-nymphs, 
and these at last were represented as mermaids, with 
green hair, and terminating in a fishy shape. This 
was also the case with the Tritons, w r ho were the 
attendants of Poseidon, and the chief of whom was the 
son of that god and Amphitrite. 

Proteus was a. god who is chiefly known on account 
of his power of changing himself into every kind of 
shape, (a faculty wilich, by the bye, he seems to have 
possessed in common with every other deity,) and there 
are several accounts of heroes having seized upon him, 
and confined him, in spite of his repeated changes, till 
he told them what they wanted to know r , for he was as 
wise as he was changeable. He was so treated by 
Aristagus; and Virgil, in his fourth Georgic, gives a 
beautiful account of the transaction. Proteus is there 
described as of a deep-blue colour : he, wiien caught, 
took the form, in tutns, of a fire, a monster, and a 
stream ; but when he saw that the attempt was vain, 
he gave Aristseus the required information. Homer 
speaks of him as an Egyptian, and Herodotus says that 
the Egyptians claim him as one of their kings, and 
assign his reign to the era of the Trojan war. When 
Paris and Helen were driven on his coast, he detained 

N2 



180 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



Helen, and gave her back to Menelaus, on his return 
from Troy. 

Glaucus was another sea-god, who, according to 
Ovid, was once a fisherman, and having seen some fish 
which he caught bite the grass and jump back into the 
sea, tasted, like them, the grass, and sprang into the 
sea after them. He was, by Oceanus and Tethys, made 
immortal, and endued with a spirit of prophecy. 

The Gorgons were once beautiful maidens, but 
Pallas- Athena, being offended with them, changed their 
beautiful tresses into snakes. Perseus afterwards cut 
off the head of Medusa, and Pallas fixed it on her 
aegis: it had the property of turning into stone all who 
looked upon it. There were three Gorgons, — Medusa 
was one, the other two were Stheino and Eur vale. 

Besides the Gorgons there was, from the same 
parents, sprung another triad, viz., the Grseae, Enyo, 
Pephredo, and Deino, who were aged in appearance 
even when born: they had but one eye and one tooth 
among them, which they used by turns, and when not 
in use, those parts were kept in a box. This box was 
seized on by Perseus, when he wanted to discover the 
abode of the Nymphs, and only restored when the 
required information was given. The Hesperides have 
been already mentioned. 

The Harpies were a singular race of beings, who, 
though of divine origin, and prophetic, were yet odious 
monsters, having the forms of vultures, with the faces 
of women, and infecting every place they dwelt in, 
and everything they touched, with their own loath- 
some odour. The winds were also deified, and fur- 
nished with adventures. Boreas, Zephyrus, Notus, 
and Eurus, (the North, West, South, and East,) were 
of course the chief. They were under the peculiar 
government of iEolus, who had his dwelling in a cave, 
and there kept his stormy subjects confined. 



MINOR DEITIES. 



181 



Circe, a goddess whose dwelling was in a small 
island named iEsea, deserves some notice. She w r as 
a daughter of the sun, and resided, with four nymphs, 
alone in this island, changing all who came to her into 
swine. Odysseus, who was driven upon the island, 
was made aware of this circumstance by Hermes, who 
also told him that a plant which he showed him, called 
Moly, would prevent the charm of Circe from taking 
effect. Circe treated Odysseus with considerable atten- 
tion at first, but when he had tasted of the charmed 
cup, and she commanded him to take the form of a 
swine, he drew his sword, and threatened to kill her. 
She was so terrified as not only to swear to do him no 
hurt, but to release all those whom she had changed. 
At the end of a year she dismissed them with Odysseus. 
Calypso, the daughter of Atlas, was a deity of a similar 
class. She, too, received the same hero, and wished 
to make him immortal, to retain him with her, but 
Zeus ordered otherwise, and she accordingly gave him 
materials and tools to build a raft, a stock of pro- 
visions, and dismissed him. 



CHAPTER YI. 

OF HEAVEN AND HELL. 

The heaven and hell of the Greeks were both situated 
under the world. The sybil to whom iEneas applied 
for direction notices thus the way from this upper 
world: — "Easy is the descent to Avernus, night and 
day stands open the gate of gloomy Dis, but to retrace 
the steps and to return to the upper air, this is the 
labour, this the difficulty. Forests occupy all the inter- 
mediate space, and the gliding Cocytus with its dark 
wave surrounds them." Animated, however, by the 



182 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



liope of beholding his father Anchises again, he deter- 
mined to undertake this perilous journey, and is directed 
to search for a tree in the thick wood of Avernus 
■which had a golden branch; this was to be the pass- 
port to the kingdom of Hades. Pie finds the branch, 
and, accompanied by the sybil, goes boldly on. " Sor- 
row and Avenging Cares have placed their couch before 
the very vestibule at the first entrance of Orcus, and 
there pale Diseases dwell, and sad Old Age, and Fear 
and Famine, the Evil Counsellor, and squalid "Want, 
forms terrible to the sight, and Death and Labour, then 
Sleep, the brother of Death, and the wicked joys of the 
mind, and destructive War on the opposite threshold, 
and the iron beds of the Furies, and mad Discord, her 
snaky hair bound up with gory fillets. In the midst 
a thick vast elm spreads its branches and its aged 
boughs, which it is commonly reported the vain Dreams 
hold as their seat, and cling under all the leaves. 
Besides these, there were many forms of various mon- 
sters, — Centaurs stable in the gates, and the double- 
formed Syllae, and the hundred-handed Briareus, and 
the hydra of Lerna, horribly roaring, and Chimsera, 
armed with flames, and Gorgons, and Harpies, and the 
form of the triple-shaped shadow." 

Through these fearful groups iEneas proceeded; 
" and here, the whirlpool thick with mud, and a vast 
eddy, rolls on, and casts all its sand into Cocytus. 
Charon, the ferryman, dreadful from his horrid squalid- 
ness, guards these streams and waters. On his beard 
the thick hoary locks stand neglected; his eyes flash; 
his sordid dress hangs down from his shoulders in a 
knot; he with a pole urges on the vessel, manages the 
sails, and, though now aged, carries over the applicants 
in his dusky bark, for strong and green is the old age 
of the gods. Hither rushed all the crowd congregated 
on the shore, mothers and men, bodies devoid of life, 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



183 



— of magnanimous heroes, boys and enamoured girls, 
and youths placed on the funeral pile before the eyes 
of their parents. And like the many leaves that fall 
in the woods at the first cold of Autumn, so nume- 
rous they stand, praying first to be carried over." This 
eagerness arises, first, from the miserable state in which 
they were till they had crossed the stream ; and next, 
because they were anxious to have their state decided. 
Those, however, who had not received the rites of 
sepulture, were not allowed to cross till they had wan- 
dered about on this side for a hundred years. The 
river which was thus crossed is generally called Acheron, 
but Yirgil calls it alternately Cocytus and Styx: these 
were all rivers of hell, and there were also two more, 
Phlegethon and Lethe : they are all introduced in 
Milton in the following magnificent passage. The 
infernal spirits 

bend 

Four ways their flying march along the banks 

Of four infernal rivers, that disgorge 

Into the burning lake their baleful streams, — 

Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate ; 

Sad Acheron, of sorrow black and deep ; 

Cocytus, named of Lamentation loud 

Heard on the rueful stream ; fierce Phlegethon, 

"Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. 

Far off from these, a slow and silent stream, 

Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls 

Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks 

Forthwith his former state and being forgets, 

Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain. 

The quotation need not stop here. What follows 
is in exact accordance with the highest classical 
authorities: 

Beyond this flood a frozen continent 
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms 
Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land 
Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems 



184 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



Of ancient pile, or else deep snow and ice. 
A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog 
Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, 
Where armies whole have sunk, the parching air 
Burns froze, and cold performs the effect of fire. 

Milton, Paradise Lost, book ii. 

One of these rivers, Styx, is that by which the gods 
swear their irrevocable oath, and if any one should 
break it, he would be deprived of his divinity for a 
hundred years. 

iEneas, with his companion, now approach Charon, 
who at first repels them, but on being assured of their 
authority to proceed, he gives up his opposition, and 
admits them into his bark, which, though old and 
crazy, and fit only for the transportation of ethereal 
beings, takes them safely to the other side. Here, by 
flinging a medicated sop to Cerberus, the three-headed 
dog of hell, they escape his jaws, and proceed. " Forth- 
with voices are heard, and a shrill wailing, and the 
spirits of infants weeping, in this first region, whom a 
dark fate has taken away, deprived of sweet life, and 
snatched from the breast, and plunged into an untimely 
grave." This first region was not a state of punish- 
ment, but was yet, because those who were condemned 
to dwell in it had performed no good actions, a dreary 
and sorrowful abode. 

Virgil proceeds — " Next to these are those con- 
demned to die through false accusation. Nor are their 
places assigned them without a decree, without a judge. 
Those sorrowing spirits hold the next regions, who, 
though innocent of crime, have by their own hands 
hastened death, and, hating the light, have flung away 
their lives. How would they wish now, in the upper 
world, to bear poverty or hard labour; but justice 
opposes, and the unlovely wave of the gloomy marsh 
binds them in, and Styx, nine times flowing between. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



186 



restrains them." Beyond these regions lies that portion 
of Erebus which Virgil calls " the sorrowing fields;" in 
them those who died from unrequited love endeavour 
in vain, beneath the shade of myrtle-groves, to forget 
their sorrows. 

Further on are the shades of fierce warriors, and 
while conversing with some among these, iEneas be- 
holds, on the left hand, the towers of Tartarus, " sur- 
rounded with a triple wall, which Phlegethon, the 
infernal river, rapid with burning flames, rolls around. 
Opposite him is the gate, vast in itself, and flanked by 
columns of solid adamant, so that no power of men, 
nor even the celestials themselves, could overturn it 
with steel. An iron turret raises itself into the air, 
and on its summit Tisiphone, sitting clad in a gory 
robe, guards the entrance night and day with sleepless 
eye. Hence were heard groans and fierce lashes to 
resound, the clash of iron and the dragging of chains/' 
./Eneas being not allowed himself to see the interior of 
this fearful city, the sybil tells him somewhat of the 
horrors within. Among those condemned to be its 
inhabitants, are those who have deferred repentance 
for their crimes till the hour of death. Then follows a 
list of dreadful punishments and dreadful offenders. 
They hasten their steps, and passing through the gates 
fabricated by the Cyclops, go on to Elysium. 

Before we follow him thither, we will let an elder 
poet, Homer, say somewhat of the state of the dead. 
In the eleventh book of the Odyssey, Odysseus, having 
gone to Erebus, and made the required sacrifices, the 
spirits of the dead come flitting around him ; and 
among them that of his mother. 4i My mother," says 
the hero, " why dost thou not remain with me, since I 
am so eager to embrace thee, in order that, even in 
Hades, we may solace ourselves with bitter lamenta- 
tions, casting about each other our loving hands, or 



186 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



lias the glorious Persephone sent but an empty form to 
me in order that I may the more bitterly groan, being 
grieved. Thus I spake, but immediately my venerable 
mother answered me : Alas ! my son, most unfortunate 
of all men, Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, has not 
deceived thee, but this is the nature of mortals when 
they die, that they have no more fibres, bones, nor 
flesh, but the strong rage of devouring fire overcomes 
them, when their life leaves the white bones, but the 
soul, like a dream, having escaped, flies away." After 
this, Odysseus beheld the state of many of his own 
contemporaries, and many celebrated characters of for- 
mer times. " There arose then a terrible clamour from 
a thousand nations of the dead, and pale fear seized 
me lest the chaste Persephone should send out of 
Hades the gorgon head of the terrible monster." He 
then returned to his ship, and sailed back to the abodes 
of mortals. 

To recur to Virgil : iEneas soon arrives at the 
abodes of the blessed ; they inhabit a beautiful coun- 
try, and occupy themselves about those pursuits which 
most delighted them on earth. " "We," said Anchises, 
" have no fixed abode, we dwell in the thick groves, 
we make our beds on the banks, and in meadows fresh 
w T ith streamlets." 

Pindar, in his second Ode, gives the following ac- 
count of the islands of the blest : the exquisite version 
that I subjoin appeared in the Cambridge University 
Magazine, for April, 1835. 

The islands of the blest — they say, 

The islands of the blest, 
Are peaceful and happy, by night and day, 

Far away in the glorious West. 

They need not the moon in that land of delight, 

They need not the pale, pale star ; 
The sun he is bright, by day and night, 

Where the souls of the blessed are. 



HEROES. 



187 



They till not the ground, they plough not the wave, 
They labour not — never ! oh, never I 

Not a tear do they shed, not a sigh do they heave, 
They are happy for ever and ever. 

Soft is the breeze, like the evening one, 
When the sun hath gone to his rest ; 

And the sky is pure, and clouds there are none, 
In the islands of the blest. 

The deep clear sea, in its mazy bed, 

Doth garlands of gems unfold ; 
Not a tree but it blazes with crowns for the dead, 

Even flowers of living gold. 



CHAPTER YIL 

HEROES. 

The heroes of Greek fabulous history are so closely 
connected with the gods, both in blood and adventures, 
that any treatise which touched on the one, would be 
incomplete without some notice of the others. 

CEdipus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, Theseus, and 
Perseus, are among the most remarkable, and a slight 
sketcb of their history is offered here. 

CEdipus was the son of Laius, king of Thebes, and 
descended, through Cadmus, from Poseidon. An oracle 
had declared that Laius should be slain by his son ; as 
soon, therefore, as CEdipus was born, his heels were 
pierced, and a string being run through them, he was 
dragged away to the mountains, and there left to 
perish. Long afterwards, when considered as the son 
of a shepherd who had saved and adopted him, he had 
reason to think that his lineage was higher than was 
acknowledged ; he went to Delphi, and consulted the 
oracle ; he was recommended to keep away from his 
native land, lest he should slay his father and become 



188 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



the husband of his mother. Accordingly, thinking 
Corinth his country, (for he had in infancy been carried 
to Corinth, and kindly received by Polybus, the king,) 
he abstained from returning thither, but took the road 
to Phocis ; here he met Laius, with whom he had a 
trifling dispute, which, however, ended in the death of 
the Theban monarch. 

CEdipus went on to Thebes, and found that city in 
great distress, not only on account of the death of 
Laius, but also because Hera had sent a monster to 
afflict the nation. This was the celebrated Sphynx, 
who had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and 
the wings of an eagle. This creature propounded a 
riddle to the Thebans, and knowing that they would 
not be delivered from her presence till the enigma was 
solved, they frequently met to offer an answer. Every 
time, however, they failed, and every time the Sphynx, 
by way of punishment, carried off' and devoured one of 
their number. 

Creon, who had succeeded Laius, and had lost by 
the monster his only son, Hsemon, now made a public 
proclamation, that he would resign his throne, and 
bestow the hand of his sister, the queen dowager, on 
that man who should solve the enigma, and thus rid 
the city of this plague. CEdipus came forward, the 
riddle was propounded : 4i What animal is that, which 
having but one voice, goes on four feet in the morning, 
on tw o at noon, and on three in the evening ?" " It 
is," replied CEdipus, " a man ; for in the morning of his 
days he walks on his hands and feet, a helpless infant ; 
in the noon of manhood, he walks erect, and in the 
evening of old age, he is fain to lean on a staff." The 
Sphynx threw herself from the top of the Acropolis, and 
perished. CEdipus assumed the royalty of his native 
city, married his mother, and thus completed the pre- 
diction of the oracle. 



HEROES. 



189 



Afterwards, when he discovered what he had unwit- 
tingly clone, he abdicated his throne, put out his eyes, 
and wandered about till he came to the grove of the 
Eumenides, at Colonos, near Athens, where at last he 
perished. His two daughters, by J ocasta his mother, 
followed him in his miserable pilgrimage ; his two sons, 
Eteocles and Polynices, fell in w r ar one against the 
other ; his daughter Antigone was buried alive by 
Creon for giving the rights of sepulture to her bro- 
thers ; and the unhappy J ocasta hung herself in 
despair. 

Tantalus was the son of Zeus and of a nymph named 
Pluto. No man w r as ever so much favoured by the 
gods as he was ; he w T as permitted to be present at the 
banquets of the immortals, and they honoured his 
table with their presence. He stole some of that am- 
brosia and nectar which had made him immortal, and 
gave it to some of his friends. This proceeding incur- 
red the displeasure of the gods; but he,] anxious to 
know if they really were omniscient, slew his own son 
Pelops, and served him up to the assembled deities at 
a banquet. Zeus restored him to life, and because 
Demeter, grieved with the loss of Persephone, which 
had but recently occurred, had been so absent in mind 
as to eat a piece of the shoulder, they replaced it w r ith 
one of ivory. The next thing was to punish Tantalus, 
and he was placed in hell, when his punishment is thus 
described by Homer : " And I saw," says Odysseus, 
" Tantalus suffering grievous torments, standing in a 
lake, and the water dashed against his chin, out he 
resembled one thirsty, and could not take any to drink, 
for as often as the old man stooped eager to drink, so 
often the water disappeared, being absorbed; and 
about his feet the black earth appeared, for a divinity 
withheld him ; and above his head lofty trees, pear 
trees, and peach trees, and apples, with their beautiful 



190 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



fruit, and sweet figs and flourishing olive trees hung 
their fruit, which, when the old man straightened 
himself to reach with his hands, the wind dissipated 
them into dark clouds." 

Pelops, his son, was the father of Atreus and Thy- 
estes, who re-enacted the fearful banquet of their 
grandfather. Atreus was the father of Agamemnon, 
who w r as chief of the Greeks during the Trojan war. 

The death of Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, has 
been already related. 

Sisyphus was the son of iEolus, arid the founder of 
Corinth ; he was noted for his cunning, and exemplified 
it in many amusing ways. Having betrayed some 
secrets of the gods, Zeus sent Death to punish the 
informer ; Sisyphus, however, bound Death and kept 
him in durance, to the great satisfaction of the human 
race, who were now exempt from his power. Hades, 
however, set Death at liberty, and gave up Sisyphus 
into his hands. In hell, where Sisyphus ultimately 
found himself, he was condemned to a singular pe- 
nance, which Homer mentions as seen by Odysseus: 
" And I beheld Sisyphus, with his great woes, heaving 
up with both hands a monstrous stone ; but he, labour- 
ing with his hands and feet, drove the stone up to the 
summit, but when it was about to pass over, then some 
strong power drove it back again; then down once 
more to the plain rolled the immense stone/' 

Ixion, the son of Phlegyas, and king of Thessaly, 
was the father of Centaurus, from whom sprung the 
Centaurs. Ixion boasting of the love of Hera, whereas 
he had been deluded by a cloud in the shape of that 
goddess, w r as punished by Zeus by being fastened on 
an ever-revolving wheel in hell. The Centaurs, his 
descendants, were a remarkable race, half man and 
half horse. They were destroyed partly by the Lapi- 
thie, a race of men who inhabited a region near to 



HEROES. 



191 



their own, and partly by Hercules, who was attacked 
by them when entertained by Pholus, one of their 
number; the chief of this singular race were Chiron, 
the tutor of Achilles, Nessus, whose death has been 
already alluded to, and Pholus the host of Hercules. 

Theseus was the son of JEge&s, and descended from 
Cecrops; his mother, iEthra, was the daughter of 
Pittheus, the son of Pelops. iEgeus charged iEthra 
not to let Theseus know whose son he w T as, but wdien 
he could lift a stone under which he had placed his 
sword and shoes, to send him to Athens. He accord- 
ingly set out, and took a w r ay which was known to be 
infested by robbers, with a view of destroying them. 
In this attempt he was eminently successful. Among 
those whom he overcame was Damastes, generally 
called Procrustes, who had two bedsteads of iron, to 
one of which he led every guest that came to him. If 
he were a short man he led him to the long bedstead, 
and stretched him on it till all his bones w^ere dislo- 
cated, and he was made, as Procrustes facetiously ob- 
served, to fit. If he were a tall man he w T as laid upon 
the short bedstead, and so much cut off as made his 
length equal to that of his intended couch. Theseus 
treated him as he had treated others. On his arrival 
at Athens, he found great disorder prevailing. The 
nephews of iEgeus expected to succeed him, and 
Medea, who had become his wife, was jealous of the 
anticipated influence of the newly-arrived prince. 
iEgeus, however, recognised and acknowledged his 
son, who, after killing a cow which Hercules had 
brought from Crete, and which was then wasting the 
country about Marathon, set out for Crete on a more 
important and more perilous enterprise. 

The event of a war with that country had given 
Minos, the Cretan king, the power of exacting what 
satisfaction he pleased from the Athenians; he de- 



192 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



mandcd annually seven youths and seven maidens, who 
should he given up to the Minotaur, a monster half 
man and half hull, the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife 
of Minos, and a hull. 

This creature was confined in a labyrinth built for 
that purpose by the celebrated artist Daedalus. Re- 
solved to deliver his country from so oppressive a tri- 
bute, Theseus offered himself as one of the victims, 
and in spite of his fathers entreaties persisted in his 
intention. When the captives were brought before 
Minos, Ariadne, the daughter of that prince, became 
enamoured of Theseus, and offered him the means of 
escape if he would marry her ; he accepted the offer, 
slew the Minotaur, and, guided by a clue which Ariadne 
had given him, escaped from the labyrinth. He now 
left Crete accompanied by the princess and his former 
companions. But, alas for Ariadne ! she was aban- 
doned by the way, and left at Naxos. 

When Theseus left Athens the ship sailed with black 
sails, which he promised his father, if successful, to 
change for white ones. He forgot his promise, and 
iEgeus, who watched the return of the ship from the 
top of a tower, thinking that his son had perished, 
threw himself into the sea. Theseus became king, and 
raised the Athenian state to a high pitch of prosperity; 
he contracted an intimate friendship with Peirithoiis, 
and like him determined to marry a daughter of the 
gods. Theseus pitched upon Helen, the daughter of 
Leda, and his friend aided him in carrying her off, but 
they afterwards restored her to her family. She mar- 
ried Menelaus, and was the cause of the Trojan war. 
Peirithoiis determined to carry away no less a person- 
age than Persephone herself; and Theseus, after a 
vain attempt to dissuade him from the enterprise, felt 
himself bound to accompany him in his expedition. 
Hades disconcerted the attempt, and placed both the 



HEROES. 



193 



heroes on a rock at the entrance of Erehus, where he 
fixed them, and commanded them there to remain for 
ever. Hercules, however, liberated Theseus, hut 
Peirithoiis, whose impiety was the more daring, 
was left to his fate. After his return from this 
mad expedition, Theseus married Phaedra, the sister 
of Ariadne, and this princess was struck with a 
deeply-rooted love for Hippolytus, the son of Theseus 
by a former wife, Antiope. Finding her love unre- 
quited, she accused him of having attempted her 
honour ; Theseus put his son to death, and discovered 
the crime of his wife too late. Phaedra fell by her 
own hand. 

Like all great benefactors to Athens, Theseus suf- 
fered exile; he retired to the court of Lycomedes, king 
of Scyros, and in that island he died. He met his 
fate either by accident or treachery ; for his host 
carried him to the top of a high rock, and from thence, 
Theseus either fell, or was pushed down. He is, per- 
haps, the most interesting hero of the heroic age ; he 
is a favourite object of Athenian panegyric, and makes 
a pleasing figure in the Athenian drama. 

Perseus was the son of Zeus, by Danae, the daughter 
of Acrisius, king of Argos. The history of the hero 
commences, like that of many others, with the decla- 
ration of an oracle, that Acrisius should be slain by his 
grandson. Determined to prevent this prediction from 
being fulfilled, Acrisius enclosed his daughter Danae in 
a brazen tower, with her nurse ; but Zeus had already 
beheld her with the eye of love ; he came, in the shape 
of a golden shower, through the roof of her prison; 
and Danae became the mother of Perseus. Acrisius 
enclosed her and her son in a chest, and committed 
them to the mercy of the waves. They were drifted to 
the island of Seriphus, and there hospitably enter- 
tained; the king, Polydectes, fell in love with Danae, 

o 



194 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



and anxious to get rid of Perseus, whom lie considered 
as very much in the way, he took advantage of a 
thoughtless promise of the hero, and despatched him 
to fetch the Gorgon's head. Guided by Hermes and 
Athena, he went on his errand, and taking possession 
of the one eye and one tooth of the Graeae, compelled 
them, on pain of losing these treasures, to direct him 
to the abode of those nymphs who possessed the magic 
wallet, the winged shoes, and the helmet of Hades, 
W T hich made the wearer invisible. Hermes gave him a 
sword of adamant, and Athena a reflecting buckler. 
Thus armed and conducted, he attacked the Gorgons, 
and looking on their images in his shield, he cut off' the 
head of Medusa, and put it in the w r allet, (for Medusa 
alone w T as mortal, of these three dreadful sisters,) then, 
protected by the helmet of Hades, he escaped the other 
Gorgons, and flew to ^Ethiopia. 

On the sea-coast of this country, he beheld Andro- 
meda, the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, bound 
naked to a rock, and exposed to a sea-monster. She 
was thus condemned, to propitiate the wrath of Poseidon, 
who was angry because Cassiopeia had extolled her 
own beauty above that of the Nereides. 

Perseus promised Cepheus to deliver her if he 
would give her to him in marriage; the offer was 
joyfully accepted, the sea-monster slain, and Andro- 
meda married to Perseus. They went together to 
Seriphus. Polydectes, who had by his violence com- 
pelled Danae to fly to an altar for protection, was in- 
dulged with a sight of the Gorgons head, which turned 
him and his whole court to stone. 

Perseus then gave it to Athena, who fastened it on 
her shield, and returned the wallet, shoes, and helmet 
to Hermes, who took them to the nymphs. The 
oracle was not, however, to be avoided ; Perseus play- 
ing at quoits, struck an old man accidentally on the 

/ 



HEROIC EXPEDITIONS. 



195 



foot ; this old man was Acrisius, who had left Argos, 
and lived at Larissa. The wound was mortal, and 
Perseus succeeded to his kingdom. When he cut off 
the head of the Gorgon, Chysaor and the winged horse 
Pegasus sprung from her blood. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

HEROIC EXPEDITIONS. 

The first expedition which the fables of Greece relate, 
is that of the Argonauts; Jason, the son of iEson, deter- 
mined to go and obtain the golden fleece which was at 
Colchis, guarded by a dragon ; he called around him 
the most celebrated heroes of the day. Hercules, 
Theseus, Castor, and Polydeukes were among the 
number. They came and sailed with him in a ship 
which Argus, the son of Phryxus, had built by the 
direction of Athena; at the stern, was a plank from 
the sacred oak of Zeus, at Dodona, by which the 
ship was enabled on emergencies, to speak. This ship 
was named after its builder, Argo. They passed, as 
might be expected, through many strange adventures, 
in their voyage. First, they landed at Lemnos, where 
they found all the men of the island slain, through the 
jealousy of the women ; but these latter, tired of their 
solitary life, eagerly received and entertained the Argo- 
nauts. Then they delivered Phmeus, the king of 
Salmydessus, from the harpies, and he in return taught 
them how to avoid the Symplegades, or clashing rocks, 
which crushed all the ships that attempted to pass into 
the Euxine. They now reached Colchis, informed 
JEetes, the king, of their object, and begged him to 
give up the golden fleece. iEetes said that they should 

o2 

X 



196 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



have the fleece, if they could yoke the hrazen hulls 
which Hephaestus had given him. They did so, 
ploughed a piece of land, and sowed it with serpent's 
teeth, hy direction of the king. This was to be done 
in the sacred grove of Ares. 

Jason knew the danger of these tasks, for Cadmus 
had performed the same exploit before; and from the 
serpent's teeth sprung a complete army, all ready to 
attack him ; besides this, the brazen bulls breathed 
flame, and destroyed all who approached them. Medea, 
however, had seen Jason, and had fallen in love with 
him. She therefore furnished him with an ointment 
which would defend him both against fire and steel, 
and by this aid, he performed the task required. 
Medea had not given her assistance for nothing; 
Jason had promised to marry the Colchian princess, 
and when JEetes refused to give up the golden fleece, 
Medea led her lover to the place where it was guarded, 
laid the watchful dragon to sleep, and delivered up the 
treasure into the hands of Jason. 

Absyrtus, her brother, accompanied her, and they 
now escaped from Colchis with the Argonauts. iEetes 
of course pursued them ; and Medea, to avoid his over- 
taking them, cut her brother Absyrtus in pieces, and 
threw him overboard. The Colchian king took up 
the mangled remains of his son, went back to bury 
them, and sent out many of his subjects with orders 
not to return without his unworthy daughter. Mean- 
time, the Argo spoke, and directed her own course, so 
that, though several times nearly captured, she escaped 
every danger, and arrived safe, after an absence of four 
months, at Iolcos. 

The events of the Theban war may be very briefly 
recounted. On the abdication of CEdipus, his two 
sons, Eteocles and Polynices, agreed to reign year by 
3 car, in turns. When Eteocles had reigned his year, 



HEROIC EXPEDITIONS. 



197 



he refused to give up the kingdom, and Polynices accor- 
dingly had recourse to foreign aid. Adrastus, king of 
Argos, was the prince to whom he applied; and at his 
court he met with the celebrated Tydeus, who like 
himself married a daughter of the Argive prince. 

Seven chiefs associated themselves together, to wrest 
from Eteocles the sceptre which he usurped. Three 
have been already mentioned; the other four, were 
Amphiaraus and Capaneus, from Argos, with Hippo- 
medon, and Parthenopaeus, an Arcadian. Amphiaraus 
was bound by treaty to go, if Eriphyle, his wife, should 
so decide, and as he knew that he was destined to 
perish if he did go, he was anxious to remain behind ; 
but Polynices bribed Eriphyle with a collar, and she 
gave her decision that Amphiaraus should attend the 
expedition. The result was, that Eteocles was slain, 
as well as Polynices, and all his allies, save Adrastus. 
The two brothers were burnt on the same pile, but the 
flames from their bodies turned different ways. Creon 
succeeded. Ten years afterwards, another war was 
carried on against Thebes by the sons of those heroes 
who had besieged the city before ; and Thersander, the 
son of Polynices, was placed on the throne. 

The most interesting, as well as the most important 
expedition of the heroic age, was the siege of Troy, of 
which a condensed account is, all that our limits will 
allow. 

Leda, the daughter of Thestius, king of iEtolia, 
was beloved by Zeus, who, taking the form of a swan, 
obtained her love. Leda was the wife of Tyndareus, 
king of Sparta, who was descended from Lacedamion, 
the son of Zeus. Leda laid two eggs; from one of 
which sprung Helen and Polydeukes, and from the 
other, Castor, and, according to the Odyssey, Clytem- 
nestra ; the two sisters were married to Menelaus and 
Agamemnon, who were kings, one (by adoption) of 



198 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



Sparta, the other (by inheritance) of Argos. Castor 
and Polydeukes, of 'whom one only was immortal, 
were joined in the closest friendship, and Castor being 
killed in a skirmish, Polydeukes obtained leave from 
Zeus to share his immortality with him; and they alter- 
nately lived and died. They were called the Dioscuri 
(the sons of Zeus). 

In the mean time, Priam was reigning at Troy, in 
the place of Laomedon, his father, and was married to 
Hecuba, the daughter of Cisseus^ By her he had 
many children, of whom Hector, Paris, and Cassandra, 
were the most noted. The birth of Paris was pre- 
ceded by a dream, in which Hecuba saw herself the 
mother of a lighted torch. The augurs declared, that 
the signification of this was, that the child to which 
she was about to give birth would cause the burning 
of Troy. Priam directed the child to be exposed, but 
a bear suckled him, and he was afterwards brought up 
by a shepherd, 

While these things were going on in this lower 
world, Discord took a golden apple, on which was in- 
scribed, " To the fairest/' Hera, Athena, and Aphro- 
dite, all laid claim to it, but none of the gods would 
decide between them. Paris was chosen, because the 
most beautiful man existing ; and to him, accordingly, 
did the rival goddesses unveil their charms, each pro- 
mising him all that she deemed the most tempting, if 
he would decide in her favour. Hera offered empire, 
Athena, wisdom ; but Aphrodite, who had, no doubt, a 
right to the prize, promised him the most beautiful 
woman in the world for his wife. Aphrodite carried 
off the golden apple, and Paris by her aid, soon carried 
oft' Helena, the consort of the Spartan monarch. The 
retreat of the fugitive queen was soon discovered; she 
was demanded in vain from the Trojans, and Avar was 
consequently decided upon. When Helen accepted 



HEROIC EXPEDITIONS. 



199 



the hand of Menelaus, all the rival suitors swore to 
secure him against the attempts of any disappointed 
lover, and the oath, which was intended to restrain the 
passions of their own number, was now to be fulfilled 
by war against a foreign and powerful city. 

The Greeks met at Aulis, where a vast fleet was 
soon congregated ; Agamemnon was chosen comman- 
der-in-chief, and the armada prepared to set sail. 
Now, however, a fresh difficulty arose. The winds 
were contrary, nor would they, said Calchas, the sooth- 
sayer, permit the departure of the fleet, till Agamemnon 
had sacrificed his daughter Iphigeneia on their altar. 
The princess was accordingly bound and laid on the 
altar, but Artemis carried her off in a cloud, and left a 
hind in her place. The whole episode is but an imita- 
tion of that most affecting passage of Holy Writ, the 
intended sacrifice of Isaac by his father, — or rather, it 
is the Greek version of that event. The fleet sailed, 
and a war of ten years ensued ; the result, however, 
was the destruction of Troy, and the death of Priam 
and all his children, save Helenus. 

Achilles was the principal hero on the side of the 
Greeks, and the siege was so long protracted, only by 
reason of his secession; he fell by the hand of Paris, 
who in turn was slain by Philoctetes. 

The destruction of Troy was dearly purchased, by 
the desolation of Greece. Usurpers took possession of 
the deserted thrones, and but few of the lawful princes 
succeeded in reinstating themselves in the kingdoms of 
their forefathers. Agamemnon perished by the hand 
of his wife ; she was slain by their son Orestes, and he 
was driven over the world by the Furies. It fared 
little better with Diomedes; Aias, Patroclus, and many 
others perished in the war; and the Greeks, as a 
nation, suffered almost as much as the conquered 
Trojans. 



200 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 



Virgil continued the splendid fable ; iEneas, the 
son of Anchises, and son-in-law of Priam, after exhi- 
biting all the qualities of a hero during the siege, 
conducts a small band of Trojans safely from the 
burning city, and in spite of many misfortunes, and 
through many wanderings, he lays the foundation of 
an empire, which subsequently swallowed up the 
Greek states, and, indeed, almost all the known world. 
To the mythology of that empire, we shall in the next 
section turn. 



201 



Section Y. 
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

Of the early state of Italy but little is known with 
certainty. A cloud seems to hang upon the annals 
of the people, and of that obscurity mythology has its 
full share. It is evident, however, that, from whatever 
cause, the Italian nations had a higher idea of their 
deities than the Greeks entertained of theirs. They 
were more completely separated from mankind, more 
exempt from the passions, the desires, the crimes of 
man. When the Italian states were all swallowed up 
in the growing empire of Rome, their various religions 
were blended into one; and as the Greek mythology 
became more known and more cultivated, all its fables 
were engrafted on the Roman stock, and nothing of the 
Italian systems remained save the names of the Roman 
gods. These were chiefly of Latin origin, and the 
adoption of Greek fable is rendered a matter of less 
surprise by the fact that the Latins themselves were of 
Pelasgian origin. To these were added the augury 
of the Tuscans or Etrurians, which was taught them by 
a dsemon named Tages, who was a babe in form, and an 
old man in wisdom. The Lares and Lemures, formed 
a part also of the Etrurian system, and its sedate and 
somewhat melancholy character tempered the Roman 
mythology, and took off from it the too great vividness 
which characterized that of Greece. The Sabines also 
contributed their quota, and from the union of all these 
arose the form of religion and mythology which ex- 
isted in ancient Rome. The deities of that people were 



202 



ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 



divided into classes, the higher and the lower. In the 
former (Dii Majorum gentium) were placed twenty 
deities, of whom twelve were called Consentes. These, 
which were the chief, were Jupiter, Neptune, Apollo, 
Mars, Mercury, and Vulcan, with the goddesses Juno, 
Minerva, Yenus, Vesta, Ceres, and Diana. The re- 
maining eight were Saturn, Pluto, Bacchus, and Janus, 
with the goddesses Tellus, Latona, Luna, and Flora. 

Jupiter, who, though originally distinct, soon became 
confounded with the Greek Zeus, had of course all the 
attributes and adventures of the latter assigned to him. 
As a Roman deity, his name is generally coupled with 
some epithet, as Jupiter Capitolinus, Jupiter Stator, &c. 
His temple on the Capitol was the chief in Rome ; his 
title was Optimus Maximus, and his priest was called 
the Pontifex Maximus. 

Ovid gives an interesting story of the mode of 
propitiating this deity, adopted by Numa, w r hich is 
admirably related by Keightley: — " In the time of 
Numa there occurred great thunder-storms and rain, 
the people and their king w r ere terrified, and the 
latter had recourse to the counsel of the nymph 
Egeria. She informed him that Faunus and Picus 
could instruct him in the mode of appeasing Jupiter, 
but that he must employ both art and violence to ex- 
tract the knowledge from them. Accordingly by her 
advice he placed bowls of wine at a fountain, whither 
they used to come to drink, and concealed himself in a 
neighbouring cavern. The rural gods came to the fount, 
and finding the wine, drank very copiously of it. They 
immediately after fell asleep, and Numa quitting his 
retreat, came and bound them. On awaking, they 
struggled, but in vain, to get free, and the pious prince, 
apologizing for what necessity had obliged him to do, 
entreated that they would inform him how Jupiter was 
to be appeased. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



203 



" Tliey yielded to his prayer, and on his loosing them 
drew down Jupiter hy their charms. He descended 
on the Aventine hill, which trembled beneath the 
weight of the deity. Numa was terrified, but recover- 
ing, he besought the god to give a remedy against the 
lightning. The ruler of the thunder assented, and in 
ambiguous terms conveyed the relief: — 'Cut ahead,' 
said the god, — c of an onion from my garden,' rejoined 
the king. 4 Of a man,' said the god, — 4 the topmost 
hairs,' quickly added Numa. 4 I demand a life,' said 
the god, — 4 of a fish,' Numa promptly added. Jupiter 
smiled, said that by this sacrifice his weapons might be 
averted, and promised a sign at sunrise the following 
morning. 

44 At dawn, the people assembled before the doors of 
the king. Numa came forth, and seated on his maple 
throne, looked for the rising of the sun. The orb of 
day was just wholly emerged from the horizon, when 
a loud crash was heard in the sky. Thrice the god 
thundered without a cloud — thrice he sent forth his 
lightnings. The heavens opened, and a light buckler 
came gently wafted on the air and fell to the ground. 
Numa having first slain a heifer, took up the shield 
and called it Ancile. He regarded it as the pledge of 
empire, and having had several made like it by the artist 
Mamurius, to deceive those who might attempt to steal 
it, committed them to the charge of a college of priests, 
called the Salii." 

The name Jupiter has been derived from Dies-pater 
(Father of Day), or Zeus-pater (Father Jove) ; but it 
seems still more probably derived from the Dyupiter of 
the Hindus, which divinity has, like Jupiter, the em- 
pire of the atmosphere, being another name for Indra. 
Neptunus is merely the Greek Poseidon, with a Latin 
name. Mars is Ares; and Roman fable claims him 
as the sire of the founder of their city. They say that 



204 



ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 



Rhea Sylvia, a yestal virgin, being beloved by this god, 
gave birth to Romulus and Remus. Rhea was buried 
alive, and the twins exposed. They were intended to 
be drowned, but the waters receded from them by the 
ebbing of the tide, and a wolf finding them, gave them 
suck. They were subsequently educated by a herds- 
man named Faustulus, came to know their royal 
origin, and Romulus succeeded in due time to the 
throne of Latium. 

Mercury was the Greek Hermes; Yulcan, Hephaes- 
tus; and Apollo had not even changed his name. 
Yulcan was reputed to be the father of Servius Tul- 
lius, and the fire accordingly spared his wooden statue 
when the temple in which it was situated was burned 
down. 

The goddesses were in like manner the same as 
the corresponding divinities of Greece. Juno an- 
swered to Hera, Minerva to Athena, Yesta to Hestia. 
There was a Roman institution relating to this god- 
dess which cannot be passed over without notice ; that 
is, the order of Yestal Yirgins. They were six in num- 
ber, and their office was to watch the sacred fire in the 
temple of their goddess; if they suffered it to go out, 
or if they violated the laws of chastity, they were 
buried alive. In case of the fire becoming extinguished, 
it was rekindled from the rays of the sun. The temple 
contained no statue; the fire was considered as the only 
image of Yesta. These vestals were not restricted to 
perpetual virginity; after the age of thirty-six they 
were at liberty to marry. 

Ceres answers to the Greek Demeter, and Diana to 
Artemis. Yenus is the same as Aphrodite, and all 
the same adventures are related of her. 

These twelve deities were called Consentes, and we 
shall now proceed to notice the remaining divinities 
whose names have been mentioned. Saturn, the 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



205 



Greek Kronus, was the god of time. When cast down 
from heaven by his son Jupiter, he took refuge in 
Latium, where he reigned, and his government was the 
scene of so much felicity as to he called the golden 
age. He taught the arts of tillage, and was accord- 
ingly represented as holding in his hand the sickle. 
The feast celebrated in his honour at Rome, and called 
Saturnalia, was a period of unbounded riot ; all busi- 
ness, public and private, was stopped, and every one 
gave himself up without restraint, to jollity. 

Janus was a god to whom no counterpart is found in 
the mythology of Greece. He was variously repre- 
sented, sometimes as a personification of the year, with 
four heads or faces, each looking a different way, under 
which form he corresponds with the Hindoo Brahma, 
or with two faces, which form seems to denote the 
union of the Roman and Sabine people under their two 
heads, Romulus and Tatius, in whose time, according 
to Servius, the worship of Janus was first introduced. 
The gate on which this image was placed was open in 
time of war, aud shut in time of peace, and subse- 
quently the same regulation extended to his temple. 
His festival was in the first month of the year, hence 
called January. 

Pluto and Bacchus are the same as the Hades and 
Dionysus of Greece. 

The goddesses may be treated in the same way, 
viz., by referring them to the corresponding deities 
of Greek fable. Tellus answers to Rhea, and she 
is also called Tellumo (by which she is known to 
be masculine and feminine), Ops, and Bona Dea; under 
the latter name her festivals were privately celebrated 
by matrons alone, first with propriety, but afterwards 
with every species of profligacy. Latona was the Greek 
Leto; Luna answered to Selena; and Flora to Chloris. 
The festivals of the latter were celebrated with extra- 
ordinary licentiousness at Rome; to so great an extent 



206 



ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 



was open vice carried, that it was considered disgrace- 
ful for a person of character to be present, and when 
Cato the Censor by chance entered the theatre during 
the festival, the abominable exhibitions were imme- 
diately suspended. 

The gods of the lower class (Dii Minorum gentium) 
were very numerous. When Romulus was deified, he 
was called Quirinus, and a senator received a large 
sum for swearing that he saw him ascend into heaven. 
' Bellona was the goddess of war: her temple was 
without the city, and in it ambassadors from foreign 
powers were received. When war was declared against 
any people, a javelin was hurled against one of its 
pillars. Libitina was the presiding deity of funerals, — 
Consus of counsel, — and Laverna of thieves, — Terminus 
of boundaries, — Bonus Eventus of good luck, — and 
Pales of shepherds and cattle. 

Pomona, the goddess of orchards, was beloved in 
vain by many deities. Yertumnus, the god of mer- 
chandize, was among the suitors, but she rejected them 
all. Yertumnus assumed every shape that occurred 
to him to obtain her love, but without effect. At last 
he changed himself into an old woman, and seeking 
Pomona, held forth to her about the comparative misery 
of a single life, enlarged upon the virtues and the love 
of Yertumnus, and when the goddess began to relent, 
suddenly appeared before her, radiant with youth, 
beauty, and immortality. He was successful, and 
Pomona became his bride. 

The domestic gods of the Romans must be noticed. 
These were the Penates, who were worshipped in a part 
of the house called the penetralia, and were chosen by 
each family at their own option. Jupiter anc\ Mars 
were frequently selected by families of distinction, but 
in general they were private deities, and their names 
not known. The Lares were the happy souls of de- 
ceased ancestors: they guarded the families of their 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



207 



descendants, and protected them from disunion; wine, 
incense, and food, were offered to them. The Lemures 
can hardly he called gods at all: they were a kind of 
spectres, whose appearance was much deprecated, and 
supposed by some to he the night-wandering spirits of 
those who had offended the gods in their mortal career. 

The Romans also believed, like the Greeks, that 
every man was under the direction and guardianship 
of two spirits, one called his good genius, and one his 
evil genius ; to both of whom sacrifices were made. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF ORACLES AND OMENS. 

Among those principles of human nature which most 
tended to foster and encourage superstition, may be 
reckoned that eager desire to pry into futurity, which 
in all ages and under all circumstances has charac- 
terized the human race; for "if a God there be, that 
God how great," is the unsophisticated language of 
nature. The present and the future are alike before 
the eyes of the immortals; to the omniscient, it was 
natural that man should apply for the knowledge of 
his fate ; to the all-wise, for the means of avoiding mis- 
fortunes. It seemed, too, but natural to expect that 
the gods would give mankind some intimations of their 
will, some directions for their own conduct. The 
oracles, therefore, which were responses given to ques- 
tions, and supposed to come from the deities themselves, 
were consulted on all occasions of importance, both 
public and private. Their ambiguity served to make 
them the more awful, and the ceremonies performed 
before consulting the divinity were of a solemn and 



208 



ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 



imposing character. The influence which, from the 
nature of things, was possessed by those who presided 
at the oracles, soon reached a degree so great as to be 
almost boundless. The institution served at once to 
gratify the prevailing curiosity of the people, and as a 
powerful engine of civil and religious government. 
Accordingly we find scarce a state of ancient Greece, 
scarce a country in the known world, that had not its 
oracle. Sixty-eight have been named by ancient 
writers, of which those of Apollo at Delphi, of Jupiter 
at Dodona and in Libya, and of Trophonus in Bceotia, 
were the principal. 

The oracular response was given sometimes by the 
mouth of the officiating priest or priestess, sometimes 
by casting lots, sometimes by omens ; and many volumes 
have been written on the question whether the whole 
was an imposture, or whether supernatural influence 
was really permitted to act. The question is now 
generally decided in favour of the former explanation, 
and the circumstances attending the recorded answers 
generally admit of their being resolved into imposture. 
The first peculiarity in these responses is, that, what- 
ever was the event, the prediction was right. Croesus, 
when about to attack Cyrus, consulted the oracle at 
Delphi. The reply was, that Croesus, by passing the 
river Halys, should overturn a great empire. He pro- 
ceeded in his design, thinking to overturn the empire 
of Cyrus: the oracle was right, but the empire he over- 
turned was his own. A similar reply was that given 
to Pyrrhus, when about to attack the Romans: 
"Credo te CEacide, Romanos vincere posse," which 
may mean, " I believe thee able, O (Eacides, to over- 
come the Romans," or, " I believe the Romans able to 
overcome thee, O (Eacides." Pyrrhus understood it in 
one sense, the event justified the prediction in another. 

A more remarkable instance of sagacity is exhibited 



ORACLES AND OMENS. 



209 



in the answer given by the oracle of Serapis at Alex- 
andria to the messengers of Alexander the Great. The 
king "was lying ill at Babylon, of that fever which 
proved fatal. Seme of his conrtiers hasted to Egypt, 
to consult the oracle whether Alexander should be 
brought there. " It is better," was the reply, "for the 
king to remain where he is." The policy of this is 
obvious. Had Alexander gone and died in the temple, 
the non-recovery of the king would have been charged 
as a failing of prophecy in the god ; whereas had he 
recovered, the credit would have been no greater than 
to have predicted his recovery at a distance. 

A circumstance not dissimilar is told of the emperor 
Trajan, who attempted to cheat the oracle at Heliopolis, 
to which the inquirer had only to send a note sealed. 
Macrobius, who tells the story, represents Trajan as no 
believer in oracles, and he sent a blank note: he had 
a blank note in answer, which convinced him that the 
oracle was no imposture. This matter wants a little 
explanation; for, knowing the splendid abilities of the 
Homan sovereign, the inquiry will very naturally be 
made, Why was Trajan so easily satisfied by a circum- 
stance so much to be expected? It was the custom of 
this oracle to cast the note down a crevice of the earth; 
where it went the inquirer knew not, but the officiating 
priest was supposed to reply as he was inspired by the 
deity. Trajan did not suspect the priest, but the god, 
and thought the note actually perished. He probably 
imagined that the inspiration of the priest might arise 
from some species of excitement, which might cause a 
sort of intoxication, and it never seems to have occurred 
to him that a person might be so placed as to receive 
the note and convey its contents, by some channel un- 
perceived by the inquirer, to the priest. 

The emperor was about to march against the Par- 
tisans, and he now fairly put the question in the note, 

p 



210 



ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 



what would be his success. This time the priest led 
the messenger into a garden, and cut to pieces a vine, 
desiring him to take the fragments to his master. He 
did so, and Trajan understood the oracle to mean that 
as the priest had cut in pieces the vine, so should he 
cut in pieces the Parthians. The event fully answered 
his expectations, hut the emperor died during the 
campaign, and his victorious army brought back to 
Rome the bones of their commander. This was the 
meaning, said the priests, of the dismembered vine. 
It would, however, have been equally correct had the 
Parthians routed and cut to pieces the Roman army. 

Another circumstance worthy of note is, the pre- 
diction being very often the cause of its own fulfil- 
ment. The history of the heroic ages, and even of the 
gods themselves, is full of such events. The pre- 
servation of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, from the 
jaws of Saturn, and his dethronement in consequence, 
— the tales of Perseus, Paris, and CEdipus, will serve 
as instances of this. 

To come a little nearer to historical times. It is 
said of iEschylus, the great light of the Greek drama, 
that he was warned by his oracle of his death, which 
was to be caused by the falling of a house upon him. 
He withdrew himself from among men, and lived in 
caves and forests. Here an eagle flying above him 
with a tortoise in her talons, mistook the bald head of 
the aged dramatist for a stone, and let fall the tortoise 
accordingly. iEschylus was of course killed. This is, 
however, a not very well authenticated anecdote; but 
perhaps as much so as any which were very accurate 
in their predictions. 

There is a story told by iElian of Xerxes, which will 
do well to connect the subject of oracles with that of 
omens. Before he undertook that expedition into 
Greece, which has placed his name on a pinnacle of 



ORACLES AND OMENS. 



211 



unhappy renown, Xerxes ordered the tomb of Belus 
to be opened, expecting to find great treasures there. 
The workmen dug very deep before they came to the 
body of the deified monarch. At last they came to a 
cavern, in which was a glass urn, containing the body 
of Belus, and nearly filled with oil. Near it was a 
pillar, on which w T as engraven the astounding inscrip- 
tion, " Woe unto him who having opened this cavern 
filleth not up the urn." The king ordered it to be 
immediately done. About a hand's breadth remained 
to be filled up, but vessel after vessel were poured in 
in vain, and after many days' fruitless labour the 
attempt was given up. Terrified with the prodigy, the 
king retired mournful and dejected, and ordered the 
sepulchre to be closed. Had we all the circumstances 
which attended this wonder, it might cease to be so. 
It is probably not destitute of truth, for there were 
some about the king who well knew what was the pro- 
bable result of his undertaking, and endeavoured by 
every means to dissuade him from it. One day the 
wine in his cup was suddenly changed into blood, and 
Artabanus, who was suspected not to have been igno- 
rant of the cause of the phenomenon, drew from it an 
augury inauspicious to the king's design: he, perhaps, 
who was noted for his wisdom, might have had some 
share in the wonders of the cave. Xerxes, however, 
persisted, with the pomp and splendour of a monarch 
absolute over half the globe. He led ten times five 
hundred thousand human beings to swallow up the 
little country of Greece, bridged the sea itself, and 
passed from Asia into Europe, at the head of the 
greatest host the world ever saw. At the end of a few 
months he had been repeatedly and shamefully de- 
feated; thousands upon thousands of his troops had 
been cut down; his hopes were blasted; his treasures 
drained; and his glory annihilated. He was compelled 

P 2 



212 



ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. 



to recross alone, and in an open fishing-boat, that Hel- 
lespont which he had so proudly passed before, and at 
last was murdered on his return by his own sons. 

Oracles are said by some writers to have become 
silent on the coming of Christ, and on this supposed 
fact has been grounded an argument for their super- 
natural origin. It may be answered that they did not 
cease, for we have just seen Trajan consulting them 
long after the death of our Saviour. Their gradual 
cessation may without doubt be ascribed to the spread 
of Christianity, which so diminished the patronage 
which the oracles met with, as to render them, in mer- 
cantile phrase, no longer a profitable speculation. 

Omens form the next subject which courts our in- 
quiries. The origin of these has been thus explained. 
Persons mentally putting up a prayer to the Deity 
agreed to accept some particular sign as a token of 
the divine will; the priests were occasionally called 
in to assist in the choice of such signs, and a regular 
system of omens was thus established. Many instances 
of this practice may be found in the pages of holy writ, 
and the Jews had an omen based expressly upon it, 
called Bath- cool. Having thus an accidental origin, 
but a regular and systematic arrangement, we shall see 
something like a reason for the adoption of the signs 
which were chosen. When omens were drawn from 
birds, (and by this omen was a name given to the city 
of Rome,) it was considered fortunate to see them 
in the East, or flying towards that quarter, because the 
sun, the great fountain of light and heat, and the cause 
of fertility and animal life, rises in that quarter; simi- 
larly, because he sets in the West, omens in that 
direction portended ill success, the loss of fame, or 
even of life itself. The chief omens were, however, 
drawn from inspecting the entrails of victims offered to 
the gods, and the task of so doing was the office of a 



ORACLES AND OMENS. 



213 



class of priests educated for the purpose. Sneezing 
was ominous ; if on the right fortunate, — if on the left, 
otherwise; and it is said that by a sneeze on the right 
hand Xenophon was elected to the command of the 
ten thousand, during their celebrated retreat; an event 
which disappointed the malice of the Persians, and 
enabled the Greeks to revisit in safety their beloved 
land. 

It often happened that an omen which at first seemed 
unlucky, might by the presence of mind of him who 
observed it be construed into a lucky one. When 
Julius Cassar landed in Africa, he stumbled and fell 
down; his soldiers deemed the omen unlucky, but 
Cassar soon reassured them, for, spreading out his 
arms, he exclaimed, " I take possession of thee, O 
Africa!" Augustus, on the other hand, was exceed- 
ingly superstitious, and particularly dreaded the ill 
omen derived from putting on the left shoe before the 
right; a dread which was much increased, when, having 
done so one day, he nearly fell a victim to a tumult 
among the soldiers. 

To detail the various omens which were observed 
among the Greeks and Romans, would require a 
volume. They maintained their ground when the 
religion of which they formed a part was no longer 
existing; and, though somewhat changed, they yet 
remain even in the present day. Among the better 
informed, they are now gradually wearing away, and 
with them in civilized countries the last relics of 
paganism may be said to be vanishing. 



214 



Section VI. 
BUDHUISM. 



CHAPTER I. 

In that part of the present work which treats of Hin- 
doo mythology, we have seen that the last incarnation 
of Vishnu was called Budha, or Boodh. It has, 
however, been always a matter of dispute, whether 
Brahminism or Budhuism were the most ancient ; 
which, in fact, was the ancient religion of India. This 
much, however, is certain, that in the first century of 
our aera, the professors of Budhuism were driven out 
of India, by a fierce and general persecution, and took 
refuge in other lands. The nations into which they 
retreated, and which almost immediately accepted 
their doctrines, were, the Birman Empire, Siam, Cey- 
lon, Cochin China, Tonquin China, and China Proper. 
There can, therefore, be no doubt, but that whichever 
be the more ancient, Budhuism is by far the more 
extensive, and therefore the more important. 

It appears, however, certain, that the appearance of 
Budha was in the sixth century before our a?ra, and 
that those peculiar doctrines which characterize his 
sect, were well known in India before that period. 
If we follow the most generally approved opinions, we 
shall be led to consider Budha as the son of Maha- 
patie, one of the most powerful Hindoo sovereigns of 
the time. The tenets already noticed were those of 
Ms family ; and knowing how comparatively easy it 
was for a popular prince, by placing himself at the 
head of a sect already flourishing, to increase its power 
and influence, and to make himself its idol, we shall 



INTRODUCTION. 



215 



cease to wonder at the rapid spread of Budhuism in 
India. Such a person would receive the support, not 
only of the common people, but also that of the 
reigning monarchs, who held the same philosophical 
opinions, and were attached to him by the ties of 
blood. 

The character given of Budha is that of an ascetic, 
a character of all others the most likely to gain credit 
with the generality of the people in India. All the 
personages of their multifarious worship, have been 
noted for austerity ; and in spite of the foul impurities 
of Hindoo sects, those deified persons whom they 
most esteem, have obtained their high station by 
penance and mortification. Such persons as submit to 
severe discipline of this nature, are their only saints, 
and these they consider as representatives of the 
Divine Being, and as endowed with a portion of his 
wisdom and power. No sooner was Budhuism settled 
in Hindoostan, than a rigid persecution took place of 
the Brahmins, and all who held their doctrines ; till 
at last, a prince of the old religion, Dhurandara, put 
to death Aclitya the last Budhuist king, and assumed 
himself the sovereignty. The religion which he pro- 
fessed gradually recovered its ground, and, at the 
period already mentioned, the followers of the rival 
sect were driven from their seats, and compelled to 
find refuge in other kingdoms. 

The history of Budha, as taught in the Jatas, is 
this : his father, a king of Benares, was anxious, by 
his prayers and sacrifices, to cause his son, whose birth 
was shortly expected, to be free from all faults. It is 
worthy of note, that this was the only son of the king, 
who had sixteen thousand wives, and his birth was 
miraculous. Chundra, his mother, herself of royal 
descent, was so holy, and so u perfect in her rites," 
that a saint of great glory consented to be again in- 



2J6 



BUDHUISM. 



carnate, to be born of her, and to restore the pure 
form of worship. This saint, whose name was Bud- 
hasatwa, had been before on earth twice. Once, as king 
of Varanasi, over which he had reigned twenty years, 
and for his crimes in that station, he had been 80,000 
years, in a state of torment. After this, he had been 
permitted to be born again in an earthly shape, in Ta- 
vatingsa, where he lived a holy and irreproachable life, 
and at his death, passed to the abodes of the gods. It 
was proposed to him to be again incarnate, and pro- 
mised that if he agreed, five hundred sons of the gods 
would be incarnate with him. Budhasatwa consented, 
and was accordingly born as the son of Chundra ; the 
five hundred gods were born on the same day, in the 
houses of the chief nobles of Benares. At the period 
of this auspicious birth, the king sent round to know 
who were born on that day, that they might all be 
brought up with the royal infant ; and great was the 
astonishment and delight of the king, to find that his 
son would have a guard of five hundred nobles. 
Clothes and nurses were provided at the royal expense 
for each of the five hundred, and two hundred and 
forty nurses were chosen with great care and anxiety 
for the infant Budha ; those only were selected who 
were perfect in shape, features, complexion, condition, 
constitution, and family. On the day when the cere- 
mony of naming the child was gone through, the 
prognosticating Brahmins declared, after an attentive 
examination of the marks on his body, that his destiny 
would be perfect and glorious. The name given was 
Temee, but as he is always known by the name of 
Budha, we shall so designate him. 

When a month old, he was formally presented to 
the king, and laid in his lap ; and while so placed, 
four culprits were brought before the monarch, who 
inflicted upon them severe punishments. The follow- 



INTRODUCTION. 



217 



ing day, when placed under the white umbrella, (the 
ensign of royalty,) he observed the regal decorations 
about him, and perceived that he was the son of a 
king : remembering his former royalty, and the long 
punishment which he had suffered for the crimes then 
committed, he became very anxious about his fathers 
safety, and not less so for his own. Pie thought of the 
severe punishments which the king had the day before 
inflicted, and deemed them too severe ; then pondering 
on the consequences of such deeds to the king and to 
himself, he seemed suddenly to wither away. While 
in this state of affliction, his goddess mother appeared 
to him, and instructed him not to fear, for that he 
might avoid the power and temptations of a kingdom, 
by feigning deafness, lameness, and dumbness. To 
this the infant promised consent, and acted accordingly. 

The five hundred infants who were brought up with 
him, cried for food ; but Budha frequently fasted the 
whole day rather than utter any sound. At length 
Chundra, perceiving that for want of crying the child 
was neglected by the nurses, suckled him herself, but 
without understanding his intentions. From this we 
find, that Budha had two mothers, one a goddess, pro- 
bably his mother in a former state, now deified, and 
Chundra ; the former of whom had advised this strange 
conduct, which the latter did not comprehend. 



CHAPTER II. 

When the king found that this son, so miraculously 
born, and of whom so many wonders were predicted, 
was lame, and deaf, and dumb, he considered these 
evils as only of a temporary character, and had recourse 
to every means which he could devise to excite the 



218 



BUDHUISM. 



child's attention, and make him remark what was 
passing around him, which he never did. For sixteen 
years they tried this plan, each year varying the means 
used. When one year old they tried him with 
sweatmeats, when two with fruits, at three with toys, 
and at four with feasts. Finding that he was not by 
gentler means to he induced to break his apathetic 
silence, they next tried fear for three years, employ- 
ing first fire, then elephants, then serpents, but this 
plan proved as unsuccessful as the other. They then 
had recourse to the lively spectacle of dances, and 
then for four years more, tried fear, by means of 
swords, shells, drums, and fires by night, but all was 
in vain. 

They were now almost in despair, but thought that 
stronger means than fear might prevail, and accordingly 
they now had recourse to actual torment, w T hich they 
continued for three years more, first by covering him 
W T ith molasses and letting the flies torment him, next 
by almost suffocating him with offensive smells, and 
lastly by actually scorching him for a year. This 
proving ineffectual, they deemed the case hopeless; but 
as the youth had now arrived at the age of sixteen 
years, they thought that love might perhaps do what 
fear and pain had failed to effect. They therefore 
introduced the most beautiful virgins, accompanied by 
dances, perfumes, and every incitement that might 
most captivate the youthful mind ; and this, though 
continued twelve months, had no better issue than the 
former trials. They now considered the case desperate, 
and accordingly told the king, that unless the youth 
w T as buried, some evil would certainly happen to the 
king, the white umbrella, or the queen. 

The king, therefore, ordered the unfortunate horses 
to be yoked to the unfortunate chariot, and the unfortu- 
nate prince to be placed therein, and to be thence 



INTRODUCTION. 



219 



carried out through the western gate to the burying- 
ground, and there to be slain and buried. As soon as 
this order was given, the queen made her appearance, 
and preferred the extraordinary request, that the 
king, instead of ordering the death and burial of the 
prince, would resign the crown in his favour. When 
this was refused, she petitioned for a reign of seven 
years for him, and this not being granted, she lowered 
her petitions, till at last she reduced it to seven days, 
which was granted. The youthful Budha was now 
proclaimed and installed as king ; but in spite of this, 
and his mothers repeated prayers, he persisted in ap- 
pearing deaf, dumb, and lame, and accordingly, at the 
expiration of seven days, the king resumed the empire, 
and, in compliance with the injunction of the Brahmins, 
ordered the instant death and burial of Budha. 

The ominous chariot and horses were accordingly 
prepared, and the journey commenced ; but the gods 
deluded the charioteer, so that he went through the 
east gate, and was carried onwards twenty miles with- 
out his perceiving it. Seeing before him a large forest, 
he concluded that he was in the burial-ground, and 
accordingly commenced digging a grave. While thus 
employed, Budha assumed his divinity, gave proofs of 
his infinite power, and was arrayed by the immortals 
in the garments of a god. The charioteer supposed 
that the glorious appearance before him was some other 
being, and not the lame, deaf, and dumb prince whom 
he came to bury. But when Budha told him of his 
former existence, and his desire to avoid a similar 
punishment, and added that he intended to become a 
mendicant, the charioteer was convinced of the truth of 
his assertions, and the wisdom of his choice ; he event- 
ually offered to join him in the life which he proposed 
to lead. Budha, however, insisted that the charioteer 
should first take home the chariot and horses, and in- 



220 



BUDHUISM. 



form the king and the queen of what he had witnessed. 
This command was obeyed, the charioteer first receiv- 
ing an assurance, that Budha would remain where he 
was, if his father came to see him. 

The charioteer returned to Varanasi, and relating 
what he had seen, the king and queen became very 
anxious to see the wonders which had been clone, and 
to converse with their celestial offspring. Taking with 
them an army of about four millions strong, they left 
the city after three clays* preparation, and set out to 
the desert, accompanied by all the king's concubines, 
the white umbrella, the golden shoes, the diadem and 
sceptre, and all the royal paraphernalia. 

Meantime, Budha had not been left to the chances 
of accommodation in the desert. The gods, who de- 
lighted in him, sent Yishwa-carma to build him a 
hermitage, which was thus accomplished. The archi- 
tect of the gods dug a pool and a well, formed a 
delightful residence, created trees which bore beautiful 
fruit out of their season, and near the hermitage of 
leaves made a beautiful walk, twenty-four cubits long, 
and strewed it with crystalline sand. He then fur- 
nished him with all the implements necessary for 
sacrificial and domestic uses, and having driven far 
away all noxious reptiles, and all birds of unpleasant 
voice, departed. Observing what Vishwa- carina had 
done, and knowing that this delightful retreat was 
intended for him," Budha took immediate possession of 
it, dressed himself in a hermit's garments of bark and 
leopard's skin, performed all the necessary ceremonies, 
and then declared that he was perfectly happy. In 
the evening, he seated himself at the head of his 
walk, partook of some of the fruit of the miraculous 
trees, boiled in plain water without salt or acid, and 
then again went to meditate on the doctrines of 
J 5 rah ma. 



INTRODUCTION. 



221 



When the king with his company arrived, Budha 
again resisted the temptations of empire, and spoke 
in so sublime and effectual a manner, that the 
king, with all his attendants, embraced the same life 
with Budha, and continued with him in the wilder- 
ness. At that time, a neighbouring monarch, hearing 
that Yaranasi was left destitute, went himself to take 
possession of that splendid city ; but hearing why the 
former king had left it, he was induced to pay Budha 
a visit himself. He did so, and the same arguments 
which had prevailed with the former king were effi- 
cacious with him; he joined Budha in his forest resi- 
dence, with all his army. Two other kings with their 
armies, who left their countries with the same design, 
concluded in the same manner, and Yaranasi remained 
without a sovereign. 

The story concludes in this remarkable way: f The 
elephants and horses became wild, the chariots fell to 
pieces, the coin of the treasuries mingled with the sand 
of the hermitage became earth, and the whole concourse 
of people, having accomplished their austerities, went 
to heaven. The elephants and horses, having had 
their minds enlightened in the society of the sages, were 
reproduced in the six abodes of the gods. At that 
time, the daughter of the goddess who guarded the 
white umbrella, and the charioteer, were reproduced. 
The angel became Anirudha. The father and mother 
were reproduced in an illustrious family. The remain- 
ing multitude were reproduced as the assembly of Budha. 
c I,' says he, ' the lame, the deaf, and the dumb, am 
declared to be God/" 

They believe that, after this, the spirit of Budha 
passed through all the gradations of perfection, till, in 
the year 1842, as the Singalese priests informed some 
Christian missionaries lately, he will enter into Nirvara, 
or absolute perfection. What this is, we shall see in 
the next chapter. 



222 



BUDnUISM 



CHAPTER III. 

OF BUDHUISM AMONG THE BURMESE AND CHINESE. 

It will be necessary to treat of Chinese mythology in a 
separate section, but we will here just notice the doc- 
trines of Fuh, who is known to be the same person 
with Buclha. The following passage is taken from the 
writings of Full s followers, as translated by the Abbe 
Grosier. 

" Nothing is the beginning and end of everything 
that exists. From nothing our first parents derived 
their existence, and to nothing they returned after 
their death. All beings are the same; they only differ 
in their figure and qualities. A man, a lion, or any 
other animal, may be formed of the same metal: if 
these different pieces are afterwards melted, they will 
immediately lose their figure and qualities, and toge- 
ther form only one substance. Such is the case with 
all beings, whether animate or inanimate: though 
differing in shape and qualities, they are still all the 
same thing, sprung from the same beginning, which is 
nothing. This nothing, — this universal principle, is 
extremely pure, exempt from all change, exceedingly 
subtle and simple. It remains continually in a state of 
rest, has neither virtue, power, nor intelligence ; besides, 
its essence consists in its being free from action, without 
knowledge, and without desire. 

" To obtain happiness, we must endeavour, by con- 
tinual meditation and frequent victories over ourselves, 
to acquire a likeness to this principle; and to obtain 
that end, we must accustom ourselves to do nothing, 
to will nothing, to feel nothing, to desire nothing: when 
Ave have attained to this state of happy insensibility, 



AMONG THE BURMESE AND CHINESE. 223 

we have nothing more to do with virtue or vice, 
rewards or punishments, providence, or the immortality 
of the soul. The whole of holiness consists in ceasing 
to exist; in heing confounded with nothing. The 
nearer man approaches to the nature of a stone, or a 
log, the nearer he is to perfection: in a word, it is 
indolence and immobility, in the cessation of all desires 
and all motion, that virtue and happiness consist. The 
moment that man arrives at this degree of perfection, 
he has no longer any occasion to dread changes, futu- 
rity, or transmigrations; because he hath ceased to 
exist, and is become perfectly like the god Fuh." 

That this perfectly agrees with the notions of the 
Burmese, may be gathered from Mr. Ward's admirable 
book on Hindoo mythology, where he says, " The 
Budhuists do not believe in a first cause ; they consider 
matter as eternal, — that every portion of animated 
existence has in itself its own rise, tendency, and desti- 
nation, — that the condition of creatures on earth is 
regulated by works of merit and demerit, — that works 
of merit not only raise the individuals who practise them 
to happiness, but, as they prevail, raise the world itself 
to prosperity; while, on the other hand, when vice is 
predominant, the world degenerates till the universe 
itself is destroyed. They suppose that there is always 
some superior deity, who has attained his elevation by 
religious merit; but they do not regard him as the 
sovereign of the wexUL" 

To the present period, including all the time reckoned 
in a kalpa, they assign five deities, of whom four have 
already appeared, and Budha is the fifth. When his 
exaltation is merged in Nirvana, then some other saint 
will occupy the station which he now holds. Six hun- 
dred millions of saints are said to be canonized with 
each deity, though Budha only took twenty-four thou- 
sand to heaven with him. The lowest state of existence 



224 



BUDIITJISM 



is in hell; the next is that in the forms of hrutes: both 
these are states of punishment. The next ascent is to 
that of man, which is probationary. The next degree 
includes many states of honour and happiness, up to 
demigods, which are states of reward for works of 
merit. The ascent to superior deity is from the state 
of man. 

There are, they say, four superior heavens, which 
are not destroyed at the end of a kalpa; below these 
there are twelve other heavens, followed by six inferior 
heavens, after which follows the earth, then the world 
of snakes, and then thirty-two chief hells ; and besides 
these, there are one hundred and twenty hells of 
milder punishment. The highest state of glory is 
absorption. The person |who is unchangeable in his 
resolution, who has obtained the knowledge of things 
past, present, and to come, through one kalpa, — who 
can go where he pleases, make himself invisible, and 
who has attained to complete abstraction, — will enjoy 
absorption. 

Now the Hindoo idea of absorption is, that the soul 
is received into the divine ersence ; but in the Budhuist 
acceptation it must mean, that the soul is received into 
the essence of Budha ; for the divine essence is nothing. 
Now, as Budha advances to a state of perfection, those 
absorbed into his essence will advance with him, and 
be annihilated with him. 

This frightful doctrine is in perfect accordance with 
the Budhuist maxim, — u It is better to walk than to 
run ; it is better to stand than to walk ; it is better to 
lie down than to stand; it is better to sleep than to 
wake ; it is better to die than to sleep/' 

There was a remarkable illustration of this given by 
a Singalese priest to a learned missionary, a few years 
ago, and communicated to the author by the missionary 
himself. He pressed the priest very strongly to say 



AMONG THE BURMESE AND CHINESE. 225 



what would become of Budha at the end of the kalpa. 
" He will be in Nirvana/' was the reply. " But what 
do you mean by Nirvana, or absolute perfection ?" The 
priest took a lamp that was burning before him, and 
placing it on the ground, extinguished the flame by 
treading upon it, — " That," replied he, " is Nirvana." 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE PRIESTS AND TEMPLES OF THE BUDHUISTS. 

The temples in the Burmese empire, where this wor- 
ship is in its greatest purity, are of many different 
shapes; but the round ones are only permitted to be 
built by imperial authority. An elevated spot is usually 
chosen; but if this cannot be the case, they content 
themselves with building on two, three, or more terraces 
of earth, so as to raise the temple itself from the ground 
to a considerable height. These terraces are for the 
most part mounds of earth, faced with brick- work; and 
as all temples are built by individuals, they vary in 
splendour with the rank of the builder, and his wealth. 
The rich frequently have the whole exterior gilded, 
which is done by covering the plaister with a black 
varnish, and then laying on the gold-leaf; and this has 
a very splendid appearance: but in all cases, an iron 
umbrella is fixed on the top, to which bells are some- 
times attached, which, when swung by the wind, pro- 
duce a very pleasing sound. Bells are also hung near 
the temples, to give notice when strangers arrive; and 
the brick- work facings of the terraces, which are always 
made to face the cardinal points, are adorned with images 
of lions and monsters of every species. 

In the neighbourhood of the temples, houses are 

Q 



226 



BUDHUISM. 



erected for the use of strangers, in which images of 
Budha are placed, and umbrellas and stone pots, in 
imitation of those said to be used by Budha in his 
desert retreat. Some of these temples, particularly 
those in Ceylon, are very large, capable indeed, in some 
cases, of holding three thousand people: many of them 
are surrounded by virandahs. The hall containing the 
image is very spacious. 

At these temples, the priests make, or should make, 
offerings every day: they consist in flowers, incense, 
rice, betel, and in repeating certain forms of prayer. 
The temples are kept clean, and the lights are preserved, 
by the priests, who likewise receive the offerings; 
though it is not indispensable that he should present 
them, as the worshipper may do this himself if he know 
the proper formula. Another part of the priestly office 
consists in the daily repetition of the five command- 
ments of Budha to the people: they are, first, a pro- 
hibition to destroy life; second, a prohibition of theft; 
third, of adultery; fourth, of falsehood; fifth, of spiritu- 
ous liquors. The priests themselves live in celibacy, 
and the more religious classes abstain from dancing, 
songs, festivals, music, perfumes, and many other things 
of like nature. 

Among works of the highest merit, one is the feeding 
of a hungry, infirm tiger, with a person's own flesh. 

When a temple is to be founded, there are many 
festivals held, as well as during its progress, and at its 
completion. These feasts sometimes continue four or 
five days, when musicians and dancing-girls are em- 
ployed, and a great concourse of people entertained. 
The priests then, taking a text from the apophthegms of 
Budha, preach a discourse on the merit of founding 
temples. Budha himself, as seen in many temples, 
appears seated upon a throne, placed on elephants, or 
encircled by a hydra; or in the habit of a king, acccm- 



PRIESTS AND TEMPLES. 



227 



panied by his attendants. In many of the modern 
images, however, he is represented in a sitting pos- 
ture, with his legs folded, his right hand resting upon 
his right thigh, and his left upon his lap. A yellow 
cloth is cast over his left shoulder, which encircles his 
right arm. His hair is short and woolly, like that of 
an African, and he is not unfrequently represented 
with the thick lips which characterize the negro race. 
This, which seems to indicate an African descent, is a 
subject upon which the priests are unwilling to com- 
municate information, and are always displeased w T hen 
the subject is brought before their notice. The ears 
of Budha are long, as if distended by heavy ear-rings. 
The statue is generally placed in the centre of the 
temple, under a small arch prepared for the purpose, 
or under a small porch of wood, neatly gilt. Images 
of celestial attendants, male and female, are frequently 
placed in front of the image; and in some places, the 
image of Jivanakara, a mendicant who had four hun- 
dred thousand disciples, and who foretold the deifica- 
tion of Budha, is to be seen in an erect posture, having 
four mendicants behind him, with begging-dishes in 
their hands, and Sumedha, a form of Budha, lying 
prostrate before him in a posture of reverence. 

The ancient religion of the Burmans consisted prin- 
cipally in austerities: when a person becomes initiated 
into the priesthood, he immediately renounces the 
secular state, lives on alms, and abstains from food till 
noon has passed. The ancient writings of the Bur- 
mans mention an order of female priests, but these 
were probably only female mendicants. The priests 
were not only bound to celibacy, but also to poverty: 
they are to possess only a girdle, a razor, a begging- 
dish, a needle, three garments, and ,a cloth to strain 
the water which they drink, in order that they may 
not devour insects. 

Q 2 



228 



BUDIIUISM. 



They are the schoolmasters, and perform that office 
gratuitously, esteeming it a work of merit. If a pupil 
aj>pear to be of bright parts, they persuade the parents 
to make him a priest ; but "when he has been some 
time in the college, if he prefer a secular life, he is at 
liberty to embrace it. They are admitted into this 
college at five years of age. At their initiation the 
parents give a feast, which sometimes lasts three or 
four days. When this is over, the youth is clothed in 
the most costly manner the parents can afford, and led, 
with corresponding magnificence, on horseback, amidst 
a large retinue, to the college of his preceptor. "When 
he arrives there, he is stripped of his gay clothing; a 
begging-dish is put into his hand, a yellow garment is 
thrown over his shoulders, and his head is shaved: he 
then begins his noviciate, which is to last twenty years, 
during which time he is to abstain from all that has 
been mentioned as prohibited to the religious classes. 
If he be obedient in this noviciate, he is qualified for 
admission into the order of priests. 

His initiation into that order is a very important 
ceremony. It is necessary that it should be performed 
by a priest who has been twenty years in orders, and 
in the presence of at least five priests who have been 
in orders ten years each. No spectators are allowed to 
be present, for which reason it is frequently performed 
in a boat on the river, surrounded by a screen of mats. 
At the commencement, a priest gives out whether they 
have any objection to the youth becoming a priest. If 
they answer in the negative, he is presented to the 
chief priest, and asked many questions, as, if he be free 
from disease, — if he be perfect in his elementary know- 
ledge, — if he have obtained consent of his parents. 
After many formula are repeated, he is clothed in 
white, and the eight articles, comprising the whole 
property of a priest, are hung about him: he is at length 



PRIESTS AND TEMPLES. 



229 



clothed like an old priest, and led to some college, 
where he remains for three years, under the instruction 
of an aged priest, until completely initiated into the 
duties of the priesthood. Two hundred and twenty- 
seven precepts are then given him, the observance of 
which for ten years makes him a priest of the first 
rank, and empowers him to have disciples. 

The Burmese colleges are built like palaces, by 
wealthy individuals : the more ancient ones were merely 
caves; but besides these colleges, there are buildings 
enclosed by a wall, and built for the accommodation of 
learned men who meet to consult about religion. In 
some cases, an image of Budha is set up in a conspi- 
cuous part of the building. 

The houses of the priests are built as works of merit, 
and offered to them. A temple and a house for priests 
are commonly built at once, and it is a law in these 
houses, that a priest shall always give his bed to a priest 
who is a stranger, if necessary; but the common people 
are never suffered to sit or lie on a priest's mat. 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS OF THE EUDHUISTS. 

Among the traditions preserved in the Burman empire, 
there is a very remarkable one concerning the Deluge, 
of which Chevalier Ramsay gives an account. 

" Their writings/' remarks that author, " afford 
three remote causes for the destruction of a world, — 
luxury, anger, and ignorance. From these, by the 
power of fate, arise the physical or proximate causes, — 
fire, water, and wind. When luxury prevails, the 
world is consumed by fire; when anger prevails, it is 



230 



BUDIIULSM. 



dissolved in water; when ignorance prevails, it is dis- 
persed by wind. A thousand years before the destruc- 
tion of the world, a certain being descends from the 
mountains of the superior abodes; his hair is dishe- 
velled, his countenance is mournful, and his garments 
are black. He passes everywhere through the public 
ways and streets, with piteous voice, announcing to 
mankind the approaching dissolution. When water 
destroyed the world, there fell at first very gentle rains, 
but these by degrees increasing, soon came to be of a 
most prodigious magnitude. By such rain the abodes of 
men are entirely dissolved, and after the greater part 
have perished, another heavy rain follows, and sweeps 
away into the rivers the unburied bodies. Then fol^vs 
a shower of flowers and sandal-wood, to purify the earth, 
and all kinds of garments fall from above. The scanty 
remains of men who had escaped from destruction, now 
crept out from caverns and hiding-places, and repenting 
of their sins henceforth enjoy longer life/' 

They say also that the age of man does not continue 
the same ; but at the beginning of a kalpa, it is extended 
to an almost immeasurable length; then, in proportion 
as virtue declines, and the human race becomes cor- 
rupted, the length of life dwindles down even to ten 
years ; but when vice has so shortened the age of man- 
kind as this, the universe is destroyed, and a new kalpa 
commences. The Cingalese have this comparison to 
convey some idea of what the length of a kalpa must be. 
If a man were to ascend a mountain nine miles high, 
and to renew these journeys once in a hundred years, 
till the mountain were worn down by his feet to an 
atom, the time required to do this would be nothing 
compared to the fourth part of a kalpa. Budha, before 
his exaltation, told his followers that after his ascent 
his body, his doctrines, and an assembly of his disciples, 
were to be equally respected with his glorified spirit. 



TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS. 



231 



When a Cingalese, therefore, approaches an image of 
Budha, he says, " I take refuge in Buclha, I take refuge 
in his doctrine, I take refuge in his disciples." 

According to this religion, there is no distinction of 
castes. Polygamy is not forbidden, and hence it is not 
uncommon for the followers of this doctrine to have a 
plurality of wives. They burn their dead with many 
ceremonies, especially the bodies of the priests. With 
regard to the Hindoo deities, they also believe in their 
power and existence, but not as immortals, still less as 
gods. They have an idea that they reward their fol- 
lowers, and that Brahma, whom they consider as the 
chief, resides with his people in one of the higher 
heavens. Next to Brahma they consider Indra the 
most important, and Vishnu, Siva, and Kartikya, with 
twenty-eight more deities, to be servants to Indra, An 
intelligent native of Ceylon assured Mr. Ward that they 
hated the Hindoo religion still more than they do the 
Mohammedan. Among the Cingalese the four quarters 
of the moon are festival days. A shed being erected 
on these occasions near a temple, the people bring their 
offerings and present them to two priests employed in 
instructing the multitude. The one speaks in the Pali 
language, and the other explains what he says in Cin- 
galese; drums are beaten at intervals, and the temple 
is illuminated. Formerly it would seem that among 
the Burmese monthly feasts were held ; these w r ere, in 
;he first month, the water feast, — in the second, that 
:or presenting drink-offerings to the images of Budha, — 
In the third, that for watering the trees of the ficus 
[ndica, — in the fourth, the interrogatory feast, — in the 
Sifth, one in honour of the priests, — in the sixth, one 
n honour of Ganesa, — in the seventh, the boat fes- 
tival, — in the eighth, the feast of alms, — in the ninth, 
;he candle feast, — in the tenth, the feast of giving 
ilothes to the priests, — in the eleventh, the lot festival, 



232 



BUDHUISM. 



— in the twelfth, the festival for placing fire near the 
images of Budha. Feasts are only held at the full and 
change of the moon. At these times all business is 
suspended. The people pay homage to Budha in the 
temples, presenting to the image rice, fruits, flowers, 
candles, &c; and though festivals, yet the aged fre- 
quently fast during the whole day; some repair to the 
colleges, and there employ themselves in listening to 
the Budhuist writings publicly read on those occasions 
by the priests. 



CHAPTER VI. 4 

OF THE JAINAS, SHIKHS AND WORSHIPPERS OF THE LAMA. 

It appears the more probable conclusion that Budhuism 
is a secession from the Brahminical religion, and as 
there are several other sects which have seceded in a 
similar manner, it will be necessary to make some 
mention of these before proceeding to the notice 
of the Chinese mythology. Among those sects the 
most important is that of the Jainas, whose chief, 
Reshabha, is supposed to have become incarnate in a 
manner very similar to Budha. At the time of his 
appearance, men were in an uncivilized state, supported 
not by their labour, but by the fruits of trees, which 
spontaneously supplied all their wants, and under 
which they dwelt, having no houses. At the birth of 
Reshabha, the gods descended, and when he was grown 
to maturity, Indra descended from heaven to give him 
in marriage. At his installation, also, as king, Indra 
was present, and gave him a celestial throne. On this 
monarch the following titles of honour were conferred, 
— the great king, — the great beggar, — the great jaina, 



JAIN AS AND SHIKHS. 



233 



— the perfect saint, — the paragon of virtue. This 
prince taught mankind the art of cultivating the earth, 
and, according to a custom very frequently mentioned 
in Hindoo mythology, he took a spiritual guide, re- 
nounced his kingdom, and went to live in a forest, 
where for a thousand years he continued the devotions 
of a hermit, and refined all his powers. To the her- 
mits dwelling near him in the forest he explained the 
principles of religion, hut he appointed twelve persons 
as his chief assistants, and sent out eighty-four to 
instruct the ignorant in other countries. With him 
were 1,200,000 disciples, of whom 800,000 were 
females. But after having resided many million years 
in this forest, at the close of the third kalpa he obtained, 
with 1000 of his disciples, absorption. The sect which 
he is said to have founded still exists: its chief pro- 
fessors have been gloomy ascetics, assuming the rights 
of deity, and denying the authority of God ; and among 
those who now follow the sect a sovereign contempt of 
the Creator, of a future state, and of religious cere- 
monies, is observable. The earth, say they, is formed 
by its own inherent properties. " As the trees in an 
uninhabited forest spring up without a cultivator, so 
the universe is self-existent, and as the banks of a river 
fall of themselves, so there is no supreme destroyer. 
The world, in short, like the spiders web, is formed 
out of its own bowels/' They believe, however, in a 
heaven for those who are addicted to austerities, and 
they are very particular in the distinction of castes. 

Another remarkable sect, which seems to have made 
a compromise between the atheism of the Budhuists 
and the Jainas and the polytheism of the Hindoos, 
was that of the Shikhs. The founder of this sect was 
Nanaka, a Hindoo of the Kshetrya caste, who was bom 
in the year 1-469, in the Punjab. He maintained the 
doctrine of the divine unity, which he very probably 



234 



BUDI1UISM. 



learned from the Moslem mendicants, with whom he 
was very familiar. Next, that God dwells in the devout, 
and that this divine inhabitation renders the ascetic an 
object of reverence, and even of worship. Hence it 
became a point of duty to seek the society of devout 
mendicants. The other two points most insisted upon 
by him were devout attachment to the Deity, and a 
harmless behaviour towards all creatures. To promote 
the spirit of devotion, Nanaka composed a number of 
sacred hymns, which are still extant. The Shikhs are 
now known rather as a military tribe than a religious 
sect: each of their leaders added to their power and 
consequence, till, under Govinda Singha, they became 
a formidable nation. This man was a political leader 
rather than a religious guide, and he introduced a 
number of accommodating rules into the system of his 
predecessors, to meet the circumstances of a people who 
were to acquire and support their independence by the 
sword. The Shikhs of the present day conceive them- 
selves at liberty to worship Durga, and generally pile 
a number of weapons together as her representative. 

There is one more sect worthy of a place, though but 
a few words can be said of it; it is, in fact, only 
mentioned as forming a link in religious opinions 
between the Shikhs and the Hindoos; it is that of the 
Chitanyas, a sect who worship all the Hindoo gods, 
but reject castes. This is a sect increasing daily, as it 
opens a door to the practice of mendicity, which the 
Hindoos prefer to labour, encourages an indiscriminate 
and most licentious profligacy, and emancipates its fol- 
lowers from the yoke of caste without incurring any 
disgrace. 

The only other branch of religion which bears any 
relation to these sects is that of the Delai Lama, the 
sovereign of Thibet, in whom the Deity is supposed 
personally to reside ; so that the same person is at once 



THE DELAI LAMA. 



235 



god and king: he enjoys perpetual youth, and if he 
attains beyond a certain age, the priests privately 
destroy him, and then declare that the Lama has dis- 
appeared. The next thing is to procure secretly some 
infant, in whom they say the deity has been transmitted, 
and whom they prepare for his ceremonious and secluded 
life. 

Captain Turner, when in that country, saw the then 
Lama, and observed the dignity with which he, though 
as yet an infant, received the strangers. The whole 
system so much resembles the ceremonies attending the 
finding, the life, and the death of the Egyptian Apis, 
that we can scarcely deem them mere casual coin- 
cidences. 



236 



Section VII. 
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

If the importance of any nation, or of any sect of re- 
ligion, were to be estimated by its supposed antiquity, 
all must bow down before tbe claims of China. They 
pretend in that country to trace back their authentic 
records to a period considerably beyond the European 
era of creation, and if they are not so minute in the 
earlier portions of their history, it is because, they say, 
that one of their princes destroyed every historical 
document he could seize upon. The acknowledged 
difficulty of obtaining information on subjects con- 
nected with this remote and jealous empire has occa- 
sioned much discrepancy between the accounts given 
at various periods and by different individuals. The 
Jesuit missionaries, skilful and learned as they were, 
have given us but a very imperfect picture of Chinese 
mythology. It is, however, from them that we must 
expect the most full information ; but a greater mis- 
fortune is, that they have not been, as it appears, fail- 
witnesses ; their hatred to the Chinese priests has 
made them often misrepresent both their opinions and 
conduct. With these imperfect and often suspected 
lights, we must compare the casual notices of travellers 
occupied by state and mercantile affairs, and ready, in 
matters such as those of which we are treating, to take 
up with any accounts which those about them offered. 
Bearing in mind these disadvantages, the reader will 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



237 



not expect to find an account of Chinese mythology as 
complete and circumstantial as we are able to give of 
Egyptian or Hindoo fable. 

We shall first notice some of the traditions of the 
Chinese bearing on cosmogony, and commence with 
the few notices found in their legendary lore, of the 
creation and of the deluge. These we shall find very 
brief. They set forth that chaos, before the creation, 
existed in the shape of a vast egg, in which were con- 
tained the principles of all things. From this egg, in 
the deep gloom of primaeval night, proceeded first the 
heavens, which were formed of the shell ; secondly, the 
air, which proceeded from the white; thirdly, the 
earth, from the yolk ; lastly, from the earth man was 
created. This was the first age of the world, or, as 
the Chinese books phrase it, " the first state of heaven." 
" While it lasted/' they continue, " a pure pleasure 
and a perfect tranquillity reigned over all nature; there 
was neither labour nor pain, nor sorrow nor criminal- 
ity. Nothing made opposition to the will of man ; the 
whole creation enjoyed a state of happiness, everything 
was beautiful, everything was good, all beings were 
perfect in their kind. In this happy age, heaven and 
earth employed their virtues jointly to embellish na- 
ture. There was no jarring in the elements, no incle- 
mency in the air ; all things grew without labour, and 
universal fertility prevailed. The active and passive 
virtues conspired together, without any effort or oppo- 
sition, to produce and perfect the universe. In this 
state of the first heaven, man was united inwardly to 
the supreme reason, and outwardly he practised all the 
works of justice. The heart rejoiced in truth, and 
there was no mixture of falsehood. The four seasons 
of the year succeeded each other regularly and without 
confusion. There were no impetuous winds, nor ex- 
cessive rains ; the sun and the moon, without ever 



238 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



being clouded, furnished a light purer and brighter 
than at present. The five planets kept on their course 
without any inequality ; there was nothing which did 
harm to man, or which suffered any hurt from him, 
but an universal amity and harmony reigned over all 
nature." 

This passage, which is taken from the works of the 
Chevalier Ramsay, and which I quote at length, on 
account of its conformity with the scriptural account, 
portrays the Chinese golden age, — an age which, how- 
ever, did not long continue. 

The commencement of the second heaven is thus 
described in the book Li-ki : — " The pillars of heaven 
were broken, the earth shook to its very foundation, 
the heavens sunk lower towards the north ; the sun, 
the moon, and the stars, changed their motions, the 
earth fell to pieces, and the waters, enclosed within its 
bosom, burst forth with violence, and overflowed it. 
Man having rebelled against heaven, the system of the 
universe was totally disordered ; the sun was eclipsed, 
the planets altered their course, and the grand harmony 
of nature was destroyed. All these evils arose from 
mans despising the supreme power of the universe. 
He would needs dispute about truth and falsehood, 
and these disputes banished the eternal reason. He 
then fixed his looks on terrestrial objects, and loved 
them to excess. Hence arose the passions ; he became 
gradually transformed into the objects which he loved, 
and the celestial reason entirely abandoned him. Such 
was the source of all crimes, and hence originated 
those various miseries which are justly sent by heaven 
as the punishment of wickedness. " 

Now, in the first age, or rather previously to this 
flood, the Chinese believed that the life of man was 
much longer than at present. Some of their patriarchs 
they suppose to have attained the age of eight or ten 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



239 



thousand years, and some survived the age of a million. 
The emperor Hoang-Ti, who seems to have lived about 
seven hundred years after the flood, mentions that in 
his time men lived between two and three hundred 
years, and proposes in a medical work an inquiry into 
the causes by which the ancients lived so long in com- 
parison with the men of his own era ; the age which 
he assigns to the people of his time agrees with that 
given in the book of Genesis of the patriarchs at that 
period. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE CHINESE; AND 
FIRST, OF CONFUCIUS. 

In speaking of the religious sects of the Chinese, we 
shall confine our attention to those three which at 
different periods have become the prevailing religion : — 

1, those of Kung-foo-tse, commonly called Confucius ; 

2, of Laou Kung; 3, of Budha, or Fuh; though at 
present all these seem to be blended with each other, 
and with a strange and irreconcilable sort of idolatry. 

Kung-foo-tze, whom the best chronologers make a 
far more modern person than he is generally supposed, 
appears to have been about contemporary with Hero- 
dotus. The system of religion and morals which he 
taught cannot, if it date its birth from him, be con- 
sidered as very ancient, and all before him is involved 
in obscurity. He maintains, in his works, that, out of 
nothing nothing can be produced, and that therefore 
matter must have been eternal ; that the cause or prin- 
ciple of things must have had a co-existence with the 
things themselves; therefore, this cause is also eternal, 



240 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



infinite, indestructible, without limits, omnipotent, and 
omnipresent ; that the central point of influence from 
whence this cause principally acts is the blue firma- 
ment, from whence its emanations spread over the whole 
universe ; that it is therefore the supreme duty of the 
prince, in the name of his subjects, to present offerings 
to heaven, and particularly at the equinoxes, the one 
for obtaining a propitious seedtime, and the other a 
plentiful harvest. 

It does not appear that Confucius attached any idea 
of personality to the Deity, much less that he directed 
any images or representations of him to be made. He 
seems to have worshipped him rather as a power or 
principle pervading all nature, and acting by means of 
the sun, the moon, the elements, and the firmament ; 
to these second causes he ordered adoration to be paid, 
joining them ail in one under the name Tien (heaven). 

The most remarkable part of the philosophy of Con- 
fucius is his opinion respecting the immortality of the 
soul, a doctrine which he took every occasion of in- 
culcating. Even in his time the Chinese never men- 
tioned the word death, nor do they at the present day. 
The expression which they use to mark a persons 
decease is, that " he is gone home to his family." This 
will be better understood when we see in what this 
philosopher supposed the happiness of the departed to 
consist. He taught that the human body was com- 
posed of two material parts, the one light and invisible, 
the other of a gross and earthy character; that the 
union of these two constitutes human life, and their 
separation death ; that at this period the lighter part 
blends with the air, and the grosser crumbles into dust. 
Now, though the human frame be thus resolved into 
its original elements, yet he supposed that the spirits 
of such as had been attentive to their duties in life 
were permitted to visit their ancient habitations, or 



OF CONFUCIUS. 



241 



such places as might be appointed for receiving the 
homage of their descendants. 

The souls of the deceased were thus converted into 
a kind of divinities, and were considered to possess 
powers of blessing those who duly attended to their 
worship. The duty of paying this homage is one of 
the most important in the Chinese ritual. It was in- 
cumbent on the rich and the poor alike, and the penalty 
denounced against those who neglected it was, that 
they should be excluded from the veneration of their 
descendants, that their spirits should not be allowed ta 
visit the consecrated places. 

This system could not fail of growing into a belief 
in the influences of good and evil spirits, of tutelary 
genii, of families, houses, cities, and individuals, being 
protected by the spirits of those who, when living, 
delighted in them, and we cannot wonder at those who 
had long forgotten their mortal history, considering 
them as really gods, and reverencing them accordingly. 

There was in almost every city in China, as Barrow 
tells us, a building used to examine candidates for 
office, and this is called the house of Confucius. 
" Here, on appointed days, the learned congregate to 
pay respect to the memory of their great philosopher. 
In the great hall appointed for this ceremony a plain 
tablet is erected, on which, in golden characters, is 
written, — c O Kung-foo-tse, our revered master, let 
thy spirit descend, and be pleased with this our respect, 
which we humbly offer thee!'" Fruit and wine, cakes, 
flowers, perfumes, and other articles, are placed before 
the tablet, during which time are also burning various 
kinds of scented gums, frankincense, tapers of sandal 
wood, and gilt paper. This, which is the same cere- 
mony used towards the spirit of their ancestors, was 
supposed to delight those to whom it was addressed ; 

R 



242 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



they were deemed to come and hover over the smoke 
of the sacrifice, and to contemplate with pleasure the 
piety of their descendants." 

It was not long before the use which could be made 
of all this was perceived, and the priests having once 
established, as a religious duty, the offerings of fruits 
and wine, found but little difficulty in persuading the 
multitude that the tutelary spirits could eat as well as 
smell, and that animal sacrifices and meat offerings 
would be acceptable to the gods. Corn, rice, and even 
the precious metals, soon made their appearance on 
the altars. There was a sect among the followers of 
Confucius who declared that the doctrines of that phi- 
losopher were misunderstood, that, in fact, he incul- 
cated a belief in the being of one god, from whose 
essence all created things were but emanations, and 
into whom they would all at last return. This was, 
without doubt, a sublime doctrine, but it was the 
doctrine of Boodh, Budha or Fuh, and probably not 
introduced till that system became the prevailing creed 
in China ; this was in the first century of our era, and 
should not be attributed to Confucius. Pure as were 
the moral, and refined as were the metaphysical specu- 
lations of this philosopher, they were not adapted, in 
their simple state, to the minds of his countrymen ; 
they required some visible objects of adoration, and in 
order to make the souls of their ancestors fit objects of 
worship, they were invested with visible forms ; images 
were made of them, and priests appointed to them. 
In process of time, some particular persons continued 
to be revered when the rest were forgotten, and of 
these the worship grew general. Such were warlike 
and successful princes, who were supposed to have 
power to preside over battle, of discoverers and navi- 
gators, who were deemed to have influence and autho- 



OP CONFUCIUS. 



243 



rity over the waters, and others according to their 
earthly pursuits ; thus out of a system apparently so 
simple and so pure, the Chinese did not fail to erect as 
absurd a polytheism as their neighbours. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE SECT OF LAO RUNG. 

Scarcely had Confucius begun his exertions for the 
benefit of his countrymen, when he met with a rival, 
a man named Lao Kung, who seeing that the intellec- 
tual nature of the religion proposed by Confucius 
would not suit the prevailing taste of his countrymen, 
contrived one somewhat like the worship of the Grand 
Lama of Thibet, with which he seems to have been 
acquainted. Desirous of acquiring a great reputation, 
he boldly commenced operations at once, by founding 
a new sect, which he named Tao Tzee, or, " Sons of 
the Immortals/' 

The system of moral philosophy which he adopted 
was that of Epicurus, taken however, in its most usual 
and least elevating sense ; u Let us eat and drink, for to- 
morrow we die;" in fact, that the full enjoyment of the 
present, regardless alike of the past and the future, was 
the only proper business of life. But to this seductive 
philosophy, he added the power of making deities of 
ancestors, and a still more captivating doctrine, viz., 
that immortality was to be attained on earth. This 
item in his creed he drew from the fable of the Delai 
Lama ; viz. that he never dies, but that the soul of one 
Lama passes into the body of his successor. This, as 
Barrow justly remarks, is but a branch of the metem- 
psychosis; but Lao Kung conceived that if his supposed 
immortality were put within the reach of anv one who 

R * 



244 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



cliose to aspire after it, the number of aspirants would 
be very great. There is some reason to believe that 
some of their modes, or pretended modes, of preparing 
their universal remedy, which they called the beverage 
of life, would be found similar to those used by the 
alchemists in Europe ; and the appearance of this sin- 
gular but philosophical delusion in so remote an empire, 
and at so early a period, cannot but be considered as 
an interesting phenomenon. The faculties of the body 
were to be renewed by means of certain preparations 
from the three kingdoms of nature. 
' No sooner was this discovery announced, than thou- 
sands flocked to partake of it. Mandarins and em- 
perors joined the Taou sect, and, in spite of the deaths 
of those who like themselves had hoped to obtain im- 
mortality, still preserved their faith. It was asserted, 
that those who died, died through their own fault, and 
not by any defect in the magic draught. Numerous 
instances are said to be on record, in which the sove- 
reign was prevailed on by the eunuchs to swallow the 
immortal liquor, which never failed to despatch him. 

Thus much is the opinion of Barrow, but it appears 
more like a copy of the Hindoo amrita, or beverage of 
immortality, which was churned from the ocean at the 
Kurmavatara of Vishnu. 

Father Trigualt, who was in Pekin when the Tar- 
tars took possession of it, says that it was believed in 
even then, though the sect of Fuh had long been pre- 
valent; and that there was no want of professors. 

Barrow remarks of it, " that the preparation of the 
liquor of life was their philosophers' stone, and in all 
probability it consisted, (and consists, for it is still 
made,) of opium and other drugs, which by increasing 
the stimulus, causes a temporary exhilaration of the 
spirits ; the languor that succeeds, must be dissipated 
by a fresh dose, till at length, the excitability being 



SECT OF LAO KFNG. 



245 



entirely exhausted, the patient puts on immortality." 
The same writer remarks, " consistently with the prin- 
ciple of taking no thought for the morrow, the priests 
of Lao Kung devoted themselves to celibacy, as being 
more free from cares than the incumbrances which 
usually attend a family connexion ; and the better to 
accomplish this end, they associated in convents. Here 
they deal out to their votaries the decrees of the oracle, 
according to the rules prescribed by Confucius, and 
they practise also a number of magical rites, incanta- 
tions, invocations of spirits, and the like ; which they 
probably understand as little themselves, as the gazing 
multitude do." 

In performing these ceremonies, they march in pro- 
cession round the altar, on which the sacred flame is 
kept perpetually burning, with a composition of wax 
and tallow, mixed up with sandal wood shavings, and 
other perfumes ; they chant together in recitative, and 
bow their heads every time they pass the altar. At 
intervals, the great gong is struck, and tinkling sounds 
are emitted, by small plates of metal suspended in a 
frame. 

These temples are crowded with monstrous figures, 
some of clay, daubed with paint, and varnish; some of 
wood, and some of stone ; these are sometimes gilt. To 
such figures, however, they do not seem to pay homage. 
They are intended merely to represent the good and 
evil genii, under the various passions to which human 
nature is liable. The good genii, or pleasing affections, 
are placed on one side the temple, and their opposites 
on the other. Thus, the personifications of love and 
hatred, mirth and melancholy, pleasure and pain, are 
contrasted together. The conditions of men are also 
represented, and their figures opposed one to the 
other. 

" In this light," says Barrow, " they appeared to us, 
but the priest at Tong-Tchoo informed us that they 



246 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



■were meant to portray the different characters of the 
monks that had belonged to the monastery. In some 
temples are met with the statues of such emperors or 
ministers as had favoured any particular convent. If, 
for instance, a great man should occupy the apartments 
of a temple, and at his departure, leave a considerable 
sum of money, the priests out of gratitude would place 
his image in a niche of the temple/' 

From other parts of the same work, we learn, that 
all these temples are dedicated to some god or god- 
dess, but only in the way in which Catholic churches 
are dedicated to saints. The divinities were, by this 
sect, regarded as mediators and intercessors, by whom 
the one Supreme Being was to be addressed. 

There was one declaration they made, which, though 
it procured them great applause at the time, tended 
eventually to their downfal. They gave out that they 
had discovered an island in the Indian Sea, where the 
genii lived; to this isle they caused more than one ex- 
pedition to be fitted out, that they might consult these 
mighty and mysterious agencies. Those who returned, 
never failed to deal largely in the marvellous ; and 
stated invariably that the high-priest of the Taou sect 
was an object of especial regard to the genii and their 
prince. 

At one period, they caused large vessels to be placed 
on the tops of high buildings, to collect celestial dews, 
in which the emperor might bathe, to preserve him 
from disease. 

Affairs went on in this way for some time, till the 
head of the sect was, by the reigning sovereign, raised 
to a rank equivalent to that of duke among us. This, 
together with his rapacious conduct, exasperated the 
nobles ; a charge was preferred against him of deceiving 
the emperor, and he was, in consequence, beheaded. 
The sect was then persecuted in every way. Its total 
downfal, which soon after happened, removed innu- 



BUDHUISM. 



247 



merable obstacles to the spread of Budhuism, or the 
sect of Fuh, as it is called in China., which, with its 
splendid temples and solemn processions, soon came 
into favour both with the conrt and the people. 

"When we speak of the total downfal of the sect of 
the Taou-tsee, we would be understood as speaking of 
its political consequence only; as a religious sect it still 
extensively exists. 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE SECT OF FUH, OR BUDHUISM. 

Fuh, or, as Europeans generally term him, Fo, was the 
same person as Budha ; some of his priests came over 
from Hindoostan, in the first century of our era, and 
coming by invitation of the court, were well received 
by the people. The tenets of this philosopher have 
already been examined ; we have only to add, that the 
priests who introduced them into China, did not in any 
way corrupt them; yet without corrupting the doctrines 
of Budha, they brought with them much of the Hindoo 
mythology ; and many, if not most, of the idols now 
worshipped in China, are little more than adaptations 
of Indian deities. They began by representing their 
ancestors with the attributes of Hindoo gods ; they then 
gradually assigned to them peculiar dominions, and at 
last merged the ancient idea of ancestry, in the new 
one of presiding spirits. The Budha of the Hindoos 
was the son of Maya, and one of his epithets is Amita; 
and in Japan he is worshipped under the same name ; 
the Chinese have corrupted it to Ometo. 



248 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



When Barrow wished to ascertain what was the 
proper meaning of this word Ometo, the Chinese exhi- 
bited great reluctance to tell him, nor could he ever 
obtain its precise signification. He gathered, however, 
from what he saw, that it was merely used as an eja- 
culation in the same way that many Europeans are 
accustomed to make a light and profane use of the 
name of God — and he thinks it probably derived from 
the Hindoo mystic word, Om. 

Since the accession of the Tartar princes to the 
throne of China, the court religion has been that of 
Fuh. 

The priests, who are very numerous, dress in loose 
yellow gowns, and inhabit monasteries called Poo-ta-la; 
this word is derived from Budhalaya, " the dwelling- 
place of Budha," the Chinese not being able to pro- 
nounce the original word. The priests are bound to 
celibacy here, as in the Burmese empire, and round 
their necks they wear a chaplet of beads. On some 
solemn occasions they walk round the altars with a 
slow measured pace, and repeat at every bead the word 
O-me-to-fo, respectfully bowing the head. When the 
string of beads is thus gone through, they make a 
mark signifying how many ejaculations they have 
made. The Romish missionaries observing this, and 
noticing the great similarity between some of the rites 
of the Chinese sects and those of their own church, 
were much exasperated, and, in consequence, have 
given us, in many instances, incorrect accounts of their 
worship. They have accused them among other things 
of atheism, which is as unjust an accusation as could 
be brought against them ; for though the doctrines of 
Fuh do teach this fearful creed, or rather, no creed, 
when pure, yet we find, that by a strange inconsistency, 
the priests of Budha, without mixing Budhuism with 



BUDHUISM. 



249 



the gods of Brahminism, have taught them hoth at 
once, and the Chinese have accepted hoth at once, 
and this without renouncing the tenets of Confucius. 
The religion of China, therefore, as at present existing, 
may be said to he a worshipping of the person of 
Budha, or Fuh, without much attention to the doctrines 
which he taught ; a belief in the tenets of Confucius, 
and a reverence to the spirits of ancestors ; adoration 
to Hindoo deities under other names, and an addiction 
to magic, alchemy, and divination of all kinds. As 
these last, though supported by the writings of Con- 
fucius, are yet common to all sects, it will be well 
briefly to notice them. 

Astrology may, perhaps, have been indigenous ; al- 
chemy, in all probability, came from India ; but there 
was- a kind of geomancy, called the mystical lines of 
Fohi ; by the union of this with astrology, Confucius 
made a species of divination which became very popu- 
lar, and at the same time he was cautious enough to 
envelope the whole in mystery, and to make his pre- 
dictions so ambiguous that they could hardly be con- 
victed of falsehood. He can hardly be suspected of 
believing this absurdity, but being prime-minister to a 
Chinese emperor, he might conceive it necessary to 
flatter the superstitions of the people, and to turn 
them to political uses. 

, The Chinese government grant annual licenses to 
certain astrologers, whom they call astronomers, to com- 
pose the national almanac, which predicts, just in the 
style of " Francis Moore, physician/' all the changes, 
moral, meteorological, and political, that are to happen. 
These persons have also the exclusive right of casting- 
out evil spirits, and of preventing accidents by charms. 
These charms are, for the most part, long strips of 
paper, printed with certain characters, and folded be- 



250 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



tween two pieces of sandal wood. The writer had one 
to prevent accidents to the legs, which was given him 
by Mr. P. P. Thorns, the translator of the Hua-tseen. 

The offerings of the Chinese to the deities were ori- 
ginally offered on large heaps of stones, and generally 
on the summits of high mountains, as they seemed 
there nearer to heaven, to the majesty of which they 
"were to be offered. These altars were called Tan, and 
at the present day they have four loose stones placed 
on the corners of the altars, though the altars them- 
selves are adorned with every kind of magnificence. 

The tans are not now on the summits of mountains, 
but yet to preserve the memory of their original posi- 
tion, they are not unfrequently placed on artificial 
mounds. This is the case with the three principal 
altars at Pekin; viz., the lien-tan, or altar of heaven; 
the tee-tan, or altar of the earth ; and the sien-nong- 
tan, or altar of agriculture. On these the emperor 
alone sacrifices, as being the only person in his empire 
worthy to intercede for his people. This is in strict 
accordance with the injunctions of Confucius, who 
says, that the prince is the father of his people, and is 
therefore entitled to filial respect and love from them ; 
and he declares filial piety and unlimited obedience to 
the emperor, the greatest of moral duties. The adora- 
tion paid to the emperor was much encouraged by 
Kien-Long, who, though a wise and good prince, 
deemed himself a fit object of religious worship, be- 
cause the deity had made, as he thought, an incarna- 
tion in his person, and to this it was that he attributed 
the length and prosperity of his reign. 



251 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE GODS OF THE CHINESE. 

We have before observed that the divinities of the 
Chinese were borrowed from the Hindoos, and though, 
perhaps, the similarity would be better investigated 
when we come to speak of the common origin of ido- 
latry ; yet in a case of such evident importation, the 
argument would be of little value. 

The chief god of the Chinese is Lui-shin, the 
thunderer, who will be seen to be the vehicle, or 
Vahar, of Vishnu, furnished with the attributes of 
the god ; like Garuda, he is a man with an eagle's 
face and claws ; he is usually surrounded with kettle 
drums, to signify the noise of the thunder ; and he 
bears in his hands, like Vishnu, the chakra and the 
flame. 

They give as a reason for picturing this god with 
the semi-aquiline figure, that the eagle is never de- 
stroyed by thunder ; and it is remarkable that the 
same reason is assigned by Pliny for the consecration 
of that bird to Jupiter. 

The fertile imaginations of the Greeks separated the 
emblem from the god, as also did the Indians ; for we 
find Vishnu riding upon Garuda, while the Chinese 
united them under one symbol. Another common ob- 
ject of worship, is Men-shin, " the guardian spirit of 
the door," who, though not with the same figure, has 
some of the offices of Ganesa ; his name or his figure 
is painted on the door of every new house, and fixed 
over the temples, as those of Ganesa are in Hincloo- 
stan ; he is depicted with a key in one hand and a club 
in the other. 



252 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



Hal-Yang, the god of the sea, is represented as re- 
posing on the waves, and holding a fish in his hand. 

There is a Chinese idol with a hundred hands, whose 
images are of a colossal size, sometimes even eighty feet. 
In addition to these, there is a class of deities of an 
inferior rank, called Poo-sa. The meaning of the 
word is " supporter of plants f and these are consulted 
on all trivial occasions, being a sort of presiding spi- 
rits over domestic affairs. One of this tribe is the 
most huge of idols. Yan Braam mentions his having 
seen a statue of this goddess ninety feet high, with four 
heads and forty-four arms. This goddess, who appears 
to be a personification of nature, is modelled in a great 
variety of ways; sometimes, like Brahma, she is made 
with four heads, each looking towards a different car- 
dinal point of the compass ; sometimes in each of her 
forty or fifty arms she holds some natural production of 
the earth, subservient to the use of man; sometimes 
each arm produces several smaller arms, and on the 
head stands a pyramidal group of smaller heads. Some- 
times these monstrous figures are found entire among 
the ruins of temples, and exposed to all the effects of 
the weather ; for when the ill effects of some public 
calamity do not cease after repeated prayer, the people 
bear the ill-behaviour of the gods no longer, but pull 
their temples down, leaving them sitting in the open 
air. 

But the most remarkable as well as the most com- 
mon female divinity in China, and one which particu- 
larly offended the Jesuit missionaries, is called Siring 
Moo, the holy mother. They considered that in her 
the devil had taught the Chinese after some perverted 
manner to worship the Yirgin Mary ; and on this we 
shall make some observations at the close of this work. 
They observed that she was generally placed in a niche 
behind the altar, and veiled by a screen from vulgar 



CHINESE GODS. 



253 



gaze ; she had an infant sometimes on her knee, some- 
times in her arms, and her head was circled with a 
glory. When they came to know the history, their 
former opinion was confirmed, for the legend runs 
thus : after bathing in a river, she found on her 
clothes a flower of the Lien-hwa, which she ate, and 
then, although a virgin, she conceived and bore a son; 
this child was the founder of the Chinese monarchy ; 
his name was Fo-hi, or Fo-shee ; he was a great astro- 
nomer, and had the power of working miracles. The 
child was, in the first place, nourished and brought up 
by some poor fishermen, and discovered his heavenly 
origin by the miracles which he wrought. 

"When the statue of Shing Moo is placed in a recum- 
bent position, she is always made to sit upon the large 
leaf of the Lien-hwa, the sacred lotos of the Egyp- 
tians | with this plant her image is in all states con- 
nected. Sometimes, in addition to this, she holds the 
cornucopia, filled with all kinds of seed, to typify that 
such articles of food should be in general use. 

It is a very singular coincidence, that the Man-tchoo 
Tartars, have a very similar tale of the founder of their 
monarchy. His mother was a virgin, and she became 
a parent by eating the flower of the lotos. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE SPIRIT AND PRACTICE OF THE CHINESE RELIGION. 

The practical part of religion in China, may be said to 
consist in divination. For this purpose it is not neces- 
sary to consult a priest, as the temples and the means 
of augury are open to all without fee. 

In every temple before the altar is placed a cup full 



254 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



of small sticks, marked at the end with certain charac- 
ters. The inquirer takes this cup and shakes it, till 
one stick falls on the ground ; he then examines the 
character, and finds the corresponding one in a book 
placed on the altar for that purpose. If one stick in 
three is favourable, he is well satisfied, and if not he 
takes some other time for the undertaking desired. 
This ceremony is gone through before building a house, 
going a journey, purchasing a wife, or, above all, bury- 
ing a relation. To be able to read is all that is neces- 
sary, and if the enquirer should not be so accomplished, 
he takes with him a friend who can. 

It is usually considered right, though not absolutely 
necessary, to return to the temple to burn a few sheets 
of painted or gilt paper, and to place on the altar a 
few pieces of copper money, but this is at the option 
of individuals. 

They have no public worship, no division of their 
time into weeks, no day of rest nor any sort of ritual ; 
in fact, a Chinese can never be said to pray; he endea- 
vours by means of the gods, to find out what events 
he may expect; he is complacent towards them if 
affairs turn out as he wishes, and petulant if they do 
not; sometimes he offers his thanks for benefits re- 
ceived ; and Barrow has preserved a curious document, 
published in the Pekin Gazette, which adds a title to a 
particular temple, on account of the emperor's prayers 
having been accepted ; it is subjoined as a curiosity : 

IMPERIAL EDICT. 

" The gracious protecting temple of the king of the 
dragons, on the mountains of Yu-chun, has, on every 
occasion of drought, proved favourable to our prayers 
offered up there for rain, as duly observed in our sacred 
registers. From the summer solstice of the present 
year, a great want of rain has been experienced, on 



CHINESE RELIGION. 



255 



which account we were induced, on the 17th of this 
moon, to offer up our prayers and our sacrifices at this 
temple. During the same day a fall of small rain or 
dew was observed, and on the day following the coun- 
try was relieved by frequent and copious showers. 
This further proof of efficacy in granting our requests, 
augments our veneration ; and in testimony thereof we 
direct that the temple of the propitious deity shall re- 
ceive an additional title, and be styled, on all future 
occasions, ' The gracious-in-protecting and efficacious- 
in-preserving temple of the king of the dragons/ Be 
our will obeyed. — Pekin Gazette, 23 > day, 5 moon, 
6 year of Kia King." 

This was, of course, w r ritten over the temple. Those 
of Shing Moo have frequently this inscription : 

" To the Holy Mother, queen of heaven, the goddess 
of peace and power, descended from the island of 
Moui-tao, who stills the waves of the sea, allays 
storms, protects the empire." Others have, " The an- 
cient temple of the goddess of the golden flower, 
through whose influence fields are green and fertile 
like a grove of trees, and benefits are diffused as the 
frothy wave of the sea that shines like splendid 
pearls." 

The inscriptions on dragons must not be passed by 
without some notice of the imperial dragon. This 
favourite symbol of Chinese majesty is invariably re- 
presented with five claws, and is intended to picture 
forth a vast dragon, " whose dwelling," says Le Compte, 
" is in heaven and on earth, on the waters and on the 
mountains, and whose power is sovereign." Repre- 
sented with five claws, he is the standard of the empe- 
ror; with four, he makes the symbol of the mandarins; 
and with three, that of the literati ; when painted on 
the property of the common people, he has two claws. 



256 



CHINESE MYTHOLOGY. 



The information in this section is for the most part 
derived from Barrow's excellent and interesting account 
of China ; the deficiences have been supplied by the 
works of the Jesuits. 

We shall close the chapter and the section with an 
account of Paradise according to the Taou sect * it is 
an extract from a Chinese tale, translated by Mr. P. P. 
Thorns, and published, with some remarks by the author 
of this work, in Frasers Magazine for May, 1835. 

A certain bird, called Fung, makes its appearance, a 
certain youth gets astride, and the tale, like the hero, 
proceeds. " The bird expanded beneath him ; the 
boy seated himself behind, and with a low cry the bird 
spread his broad wings, soared majestically upward, 
and in a few moments the earth and all terrestrial 
things were far beneath, too far to be any longer visible. 
After sailing along thus some time, they arrived at a 
red door where the boy alighted, and assisted Woo- 
tsing-yen to alight also. ' Where am IV exclaimed 
he ; c This is the gate of heaven,' was the reply. The 
astonished student looked around, and with dread be- 
held a huge tiger lying at his ease. The youth saw 
his alarm, and instantly placed himself before the 
tiger. And now was Woo-tsing-yen able to behold 
the beauties of heaven, extending its glories all around 
him, brighter and very different from this world. The 
boy went on, and he followed into the palace of 
Kwang-han, paved with crystal, and on all sides ap- 
peared the glorious inmates, seeming as if walking 
upon diamond ; around them grew the lofty trees of 
% fragrant oil, with their luxuriant branches meeting at 
the top, and loading with perfume the breezes that 
here suffer no interruption. Red were the windows of 
the buildings, beautiful the countenances of the mai- 
dens, and slender their forms, that in these groves 
wander for ever ; in this world are none such to be 



CHINESE RELIGION. 



257 



found. ' In the palace of String Moo, the imperial mo- 
ther/ said the youth, addressing Woo-tsing-yen, 6 the 
ladies are far more lovely. Hasten, for my lord is 
waiting/ So saying, he seized the hand of the lin- 
gerer, and drew him out of the red door." This is 
from a collection entitled Kin-koo-ke-kwan ; the story 
is wild and beautiful, and throws much light on the 
doctrine of immortality, as given out by the priests of 
the Taou sect, which we have before noticed. 



258 



Section VIII. 
MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

Hitherto we have seen those forms of worship, and 
those systems of religious philosophy only, which pre- 
vailed in the old world. It was reserved for Columbus 
and Cortez to open a new field for investigation, and 
to show us the superstitions of a race cut off by a wide, 
and, until that time, untraversed ocean, from European 
commerce. The Spaniards who discovered America 
were far from expecting so splendid a result to their 
endeavours. They were men seeking gold, and their 
object was to find a western passage to India. We 
are not, therefore, to expect among men so employed, 
and belonging likewise to the most bigoted nation and 
the most exclusive church existing, a spirit of philo- 
sophical inquiry. They were predisposed to seize on 
the treasures, and to condemn the opinions, of those 
whom they visited; and, like Omar, they would say of 
books and systems, " If they teach the same things as 
the church, they are superfluous; if others, they are 
I mischievous." 

Among the American discoverers, however, there 
were men of acute minds and habits of investigation, 
men who, though bigoted and biassed, were yet too 
observant to let what they saw pass without comment. 
Their remarks afford us, of course, the earliest, and, in 
some respects, the most valuable notices of Mexican 
mythology. The value of their observations consists 
in this, — that they saw the system in its purest state, 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



259 



and their minds were not attached to any particular 
species of philosophy which might have induced them 
so to colour what they saw as to render it in many 
respects false. 

When the reports of the discoverers became known, 
and it was well ascertained that a large continent had 
been discovered, inhabited by a people considerably 
advanced in arts and science, dwelling in splendid 
cities, and worshipping in stately temples, it became a 
matter of interest to the learned and the speculative to 
examine the mythology and traditions of so singular a 
nation. The first impression made on the mind by a 
view of Mexican superstition is gloomy and repulsive. 
There is no account of any system containing so much 
to disgust, and so little to attract; yet when this feeling 
of repugnance is overcome, and we are led to contem- 
plate it more accurately, we shall find that the creed of 
this remote people was very nearly the same with that 
of the more ancient and more agreeable schemes of 
Europe and Asia. 

The great doctrine of Azteck belief was that there 
existed a Being, lord and creator of all. This intelli- 
gence, whom they did not worship, conceiving him too 
holy and lofty to be addressed in prayer, or represented 
by images, was named Ipalnemoani, " He by whom we 
live/' — Teotl, " God," — and Tloque Nahuaque, " He 
who has all in himself." This mighty and self-existent 
Being was deemed invisible: he had no temples, no 
altars; but the other gods were considered as emana- 
tions from him; and one, the chief object of worship, 
Huitzulupuctli, Vitzilipuctli, or Mexitli, was an incar- 
nation of the Supreme Being. 

The Azteck or Mexican cosmogony, like their his- 
tory, is made known to us by their picture-writing, or 
hieroglyphics, like that of the ancient Egyptians, and 
it is very remarkable. They believed that previously 

S 2 



260 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



to the present age there had been four races of men, 
and four suns, each of which had been successively 
destroyed; that in each case two individuals had been 
preserved to become the founders of a new human 
family. 

The first of these visitations of divine wrath de- 
stroyed the world by famine; and the event is thus 
pictured in the hieroglyphical painting: — A malignant 
spirit is seen ascending to the earth to root up the grass 
and the flowers ; near him are seen three human figures, 
the sole remainder of the millions of mankind ; each of 
these holds in the right hand a sharp cutting instru- 
ment, and in the left, a fruit or ear of corn. There 
was a race of giants then inhabiting the earth, and 
those among them who escaped death by famine, were 
destroyed by tigers. 

The second age was closed by a still more terrific 
calamity, and the second world was destroyed by fire. 
The termination of this cycle is pictured by the descent 
of the god of fire, as the agent of destruction; and 
since the birds alone could escape the general con- 
flagration, we are told by the tradition attached to the 
painting that all mankind were turned into birds, 
whose descendants fill the forests of our own age; but 
again one man and one woman were preserved in a 
cave, to be the parents of a new progeny. 

The third age was closed, and the third world de- 
stroyed, by Quetzalcohuatl, the god of the winds. This 
exterminating deity came down upon the earth armed 
with a sickle, and either swept away all the nations of 
the earth with the hurricane of his breath, or turned 
them into apes. As before, however, in order that the 
race of mankind might not be totally exterminated, 
two persons were protected from the hurricane in a 
cavern. 

The fourth age was terminated by a flood of water, 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



261 



and since this no further manifestations of such fearful 
destruction have been made. We have already seen 
how the air was peopled with birds, and the forests 
with apes; we shall not be astonished to find that, when 
at the close of the fourth age a mighty inundation 
swept from the earth all the generations of men, these 
men, or at least a part of them, were preserved under 
another form, and became fishes. One man and one 
woman were once more the objects of the divine pro- 
tection: they saved themselves in a boat made from 
the trunk of a tree, and as the waters subsided, they 
landed on the peak of Mount Colhuacan. The world 
was not, however, reinstated so soon this time as before ; 
for twenty-five years the sun continued uncreated, and 
it was during this gloomy period, and ten years before 
the appearance of the fifth sun, that mankind were for 
the last time regenerated. 

The name of the man thus preserved was Coxcox, 
or Tezpi ; his wife's name was Xochiquetzal ; and there 
exists a piece of Mexican picture-writing, which relates 
the history of their preservation. They are both repre- 
sented as recumbent in the bark above-mentioned, and 
sailing towards a mountain-peak, which rises from the 
waves, and is crowned with a tree. This is Colhuacan, 
the Ararat of the Mexicans. The tradition tells us, 
that when the deluge overwhelmed the whole earth, 
Tezpi embarked in a spacious bark with Xochiquetzal, 
his children, and a great store of provisions ; with them 
were a variety of animals, and every sort of grain, in 
order that the future inhabitants of the new world 
might not be in want of necessaries. In this vast 
receptacle the privileged family sailed over the great 
deep. All other animals were drowned, and all other 
men became fish. At length Tezcatlipoca, the youngest 
of the deities, ordered the waters to withdraw, and 
Tezpi then sent out a vulture in order to ascertain in 



262 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



•what condition the earth was. The vulture, however, 
feeding on dead flesh, did not return, for the shores of 
the sea were lined with the carcasses of animals. Tezpi 
was therefore obliged to send some other messenger; 
and, after dismissing several, the humming-bird alone 
returned, bearing with it a branch covered with leaves. 
Perceiving from this circumstance that the waters were 
considerably abated, and that verdure was re-covering 
the earth, Tezpi left his bark, and took up his station 
near Mount Colhuacan. This story is found in Hum- 
boldt's Researches, vol. ii. p. 64. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE MEXICAN GODS. 

The principal in rank among the Mexican divinities 
was Tezcatlipoca, whose name was mentioned in the 
last chapter as having commanded the withdrawal of 
the waters. He was, as there stated, the youngest of 
the gods, and thence became also incapable of growing 
old: he was called Telpuctli, the youth. He was a 
favourite object of Mexican worship, and was believed 
frequently to visit their city incognito. At each divi- 
sion or crossing of a street in the ancient city, a stone 
seat was placed, called Monomotzli, or Ichialoca: this 
last word signifies " the place where he may be ex- 
pected/' These seats were always hung with fresh 
garlands. On one particular occasion, when a festival 
was annually held, called the feast of the arrival of the 
gods, he was supposed to visit Mexico in a more solemn 
manner; the threshold of his temple was strewn with 
maize, and he, invisible to mortal eyes, passing over it, 
left the mark of his footstep. As soon as the officiating 
priests saw this footstep, they made great shouts, and 



OF THE GODS. 



263 



the whole city commenced their rejoicings. The rest 
of the gods all followed him into his temple, where a 
banquet was prepared. 

A devout worshipper of this deity once set out, ac- 
cording to Azteck tradition, to see if he could find 
him. He reached the sea coast, and there the god 
appeared to him, and commanded him to summon into 
his presence the whale, the mermaid, and the tortoise. 
These three creatures came at his command, and made 
a bridge, by which he passed to the house of the Sun; 
from thence he was ordered to bring instruments of 
music to celebrate the festivals of Tezcatlipoca. As he 
passed over the bridge, he continued singing a song 
which the god had taught him. As soon as the Sun 
heard this song, he cautioned his servants and people 
not to answer to the song, for all those who answered 
would be obliged to abandon that glorious abode, and 
so to follow the singer. There were some, however, 
who could not resist the voice of the charmer, and 
these he brought with him to earth, together with the 
drums called Huahuneth and Tepunaztli. Tezcatli- 
poca was represented of a dark blue or black colour, 
with a shield on his arm, and a spear in his uplifted 
right hand; he sits on a throne of skulls. His festivals, 
which we shall notice in the next chapter, were cele- 
brated with great carousing and drunkenness, particu- 
larly among old people, who said that the liquor which 
they drank went to wash the feet of the god on his 
arrival after his long journey. " And I say," remarks 
Torquemada, in his extraordinary book, " that this is 
a great mistake ; and the truth is, they washed their 
own tripes, and filled them with liquor, which made 
them merry, and the fumes got up into their heads, and 
overset them, with which fall it is not to be wondered 
at that they fell into such errors and foolishness." 

Next in rank, and far more extensively worshipped, 



264 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



W8S Huitzulupuctli, Vitzilipuztli, or Mexitli, who, 
though not called the Creator, as Tezcatlipoca was, was 
yet deemed an incarnation of the Supreme Being. 
According to the legend, Coatlantona was a priestess 
of Tezcatlipoca. Walking one evening in the temple 
grove, a beautiful plume of feathers came down from 
heaven, and after floating about her for some time, 
settled in her bosom, where it disappeared. She felt 
another life within, and knew that in this mysterious 
manner she should become a mother. Her situation 
soon became known, and for her the punishment was 
death. Already was the pile prepared, and the sacri- 
ficial knife sharpened, when Mexitli, fully armed, 
leaped from her bosom to save his mother, and to de- 
stroy those who would have slain her. 

The mode in which Vitzilipuztli was pictured or 
represented, may be learned from Bernal Dias del 
Castillo, who accompanied Cortez in his expedition. 
" When we had ascended to the summit of the temple, 
we observed on the platform as we passed, the large 
stones whereon were placed the victims to be sacrificed. 
Here was a great figure which represented a dragon, 
and much blood spilt. Cortez then addressed Monte- 
zuma, and requested that he would do him the favour 
to show us his gods. Montezuma, having first con- 
suited the priests, led us into a tower, in which was a 
kind of saloon; here were two altars, highly adorned 
with richly wrought timbers on the roof, and over the 
altars gigantic figures representing fat men. The one 
on the right was Huitzelopochtli, their war-god, with 
a great face and terrible eyes. This figure was entirely 
covered with gold and jewels, and his body bound with 
golden serpents/' — " This god," says Herrera, " held in 
his right hand a staff cut in the form of a serpent, and 
the four corners of the arc in which he was seated each 
with a carved representation of the head of a serpent. 



OF THE GODS. 



265 



Mexitli himself was an azure figure, from whose sides 
projected the heads of two serpents/' 

Another deity of great repute was Tlaloc, god of the 
waters, or, as he was also called, Tlalocatechuhlti, the 
lord of paradise. He was the oldest of the gods, as 
Tezcatlipoca was the youngest; he was depicted as a 
man sitting on a square seat, with a vessel before him, 
in which a specimen of every kind of grain was offered 
in sacrifice, together with fruits and flowers. His 
image was of a kind of pumice-stone, and, according 
to tradition, had been found upon the mountains. One 
of the kings of Tetzcuco ordered a better image to be 
made. This, however, was soon destroyed by light- 
ning, and the original replaced with fear and trembling. 
As one of the arms had been broken in removing, it 
w T as fastened by three golden nails, but Tumaragna, the 
first bishop, drew out the nails and destroyed the idol. 
Tlaloc, as the god of the waters, was at the head of a 
great number of inferior gods. His usual residence 
was supposed to be among the mountains, where he 
collected the vapours and distributed them in rain and 
dew. 

After Tlaloc, in point of rank, comes Quetzalcohuatl, 
god of the winds. Gomara thus describes his temple 
in Mexico: " It was circular, for even as the air goeth 
round about the heavens, even for that consideration 
they made his temple round. The entrance to that 
temple had a door made like unto the mouth of a ser- 
pent, and was painted with foul and devilish gestures, 
with great teeth and gums wrought, which was a thing 
to fear those that should enter thereat, especially the 
Christians, unto whom it represented very hell, with 
that ugly face and monstrous teeth." 

Virichoca was another god, to whom considerable 
worship was paid. Mictlanteuctli, the prince of hell, 
and his consort Mictlancihuatl, were objects also of 



266 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



great veneration; they were called after Mictlan, or hell, 
in which they reigned. Mictlanteuctli was described 
by Bernal Dias as being placed in the same temple with 
Mexitli : " He had the face of a bear, and his body was 
covered with figures like devils, with tails of serpents." 

Bullock gives a relation of a goddess whom he calls 
the Goddess of War, and thus describes hor image: — 
" This monstrous idol is, with its pedestal, twelve feet 
high and four wide; its form is partly human, and the 
rest composed of rattlesnakes and the tiger. The head, 
enormously wide, seems that of two rattlesnakes united, 
the fangs hanging out of the mouth, on which the 
still palpitating hearts of the victims were rubbed, as 
an act of the most acceptable oblation. The body is 
that of a deformed human figure, and the place of arms 
supplied by the heads of rattlesnakes placed on square 
plinths, and united by fringed ornaments. Round the 
waist is a girdle, which was originally covered with 
gold, and beneath this, reaching nearly to the ground, 
and partly covering its deformed cloven feet, a drapery, 
entirely composed of wreathed rattlesnakes, which the 
natives call a garment of serpents. Between the feet, 
descending from the body, another wreathed serpent 
rests his head upon the ground." 

Coatlantona, the mother of Mexitli, was by him en- 
dowed with power over herbs, plants, and flowers, with 
offerings of which she was consequently presented. 

We shall close the catalogue of Mexican deities with 
Nahuatzin, or the Sun. His history is curious. We 
have already noticed that for twenty-five years after 
the close of the deluge, there was no orb of day. The 
fourth sun had perished, and the gods, when they 
framed a new world, assigned it to a race of demigods 
for their dwelling-place. These demigods, finding the 
earth untenantable for want of the solar warmth, lifted 
up their prayers to the gods. By the command of 



OF THE GODS. 



267 



Tezcatlipoca they kindled a vast fire, and circled round 
it. No sooner did the flames ascend to heaven than 
the voice of Ipalnemoani was heard, declaring that 
•whoever should leap into the fire should ascend to 
heaven, and there shine forth as the god of day. The 
race of the demigods shrank from the trial, hut a 
mortal named Nahuatzin possessed more courage than 
the heaven-born; he leaped into the fire, and immedi- 
ately arose in his new and glorious form to heaven. 

Incensed that a mortal should thus attain a rank and 
felicity so much greater than their own, the demigods 
attacked him with arrows and every kind of weapon; 
but Nahuatzin, with the glory, had also attained the 
power, of a god, and he soon destroyed all his enemies. 
To mortals, as having been himself a mortal, he was 
esteemed kind and propitious. His worship was con- 
sequently very popular. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE FESTIVALS AND SACRIFICES OF THE GODS. 

Mexico was the chosen land of human sacrifices ; the 
temple of Mexitli had its walls and floor all caked and 
smeared with putrid blood, so that the " stenching of 
the black gore" was intolerable. Bernal Dias, whose 
description of the god and temple we have before 
quoted, says, that when he visited the idol, there was 
a pan of incense, with three hearts of human victims, 
which were burning, mixed with copal. The heads of 
the persons sacrificed, says the same writer, were strung 
up in the temple. The limbs were eaten by the priests 
at the banquet ; the hearts burned before the idol ; 
their bodies given to the wild beasts which were kept 



268 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



within the temple circuits. " Moreover, in that accursed 
house, they kept vipers and venomous snakes, who had 
something at their tails, which sounded like morris- 
bells, and these are the worst of vipers. These were 
kept in cradles, and in barrels, and in earthen vessels, 
upon feathers, and there they laid their eggs, and 
nursed up their snakelings ; and they were fed with 
the bodies of the sacrificed, and with dogs'-flesh. 

" We learned, for certain, that after they had driven 
us from Mexico, and had slain above eight hundred and 
fifty of our men, and of the men of Narvaez, these beasts 
and snakes, who had been offered to their cruel idol, to be 
his companions, were fed upon their flesh for many days. 
When these lions and tigers roared, and the jackals and 
foxes howled, and the snakes hissed, it was a grim thing 
to hear them, and it seemed like hell." — Bernal Diaz. 

The principal festival of Tezcatlipoca was thus con- 
ducted. A young man of noble family, and usually 
chosen for his personal beauty and mental endowments, 
was selected to be the annual victim ; for twelve 
months before the time of sacrifice came, did the 
priests keep around him, offering incense, and worship- 
ping him morning and night ; his place of abode was 
in the temples, and wherever he went, troops of adorers 
followed and surrounded him, making every species of 
frantic gesture. Twenty days before his death, four of 
the loveliest maidens that could be obtained, were pre- 
sented to him as his brides. He was habited like the 
god, and considered as his living representative. 

This was not the only occasion on which human 
sacrifices were offered to Tezcatlipoca ; they were, 
however, more frequent to Tlaloc, and most frequent 
to Mexitli, because, as the god of war, the hearts of 
those taken in battle were offered to him ; piles and 
towers were built with skulls and bones thus obtained. 

"There/' says Bernal Diaz, "in the great Cu or tern- 



FESTIVALS AND SACRIFICES. 



269 



pie, at Mexico, they had an exceeding large drum, and 
when they heat it, the sound was such, and so dismal, 
that it was like an instrument of hell, and was heard 
for more than two leagues round. They said that the 
cover of that drum was made of the skins of huge 
serpents." 

After Cortez had heen defeated, he always heard 
this drum when they were offering up the reeking 
hearts of his men. The account given by Bernal Diaz 
of this sacrifice, performed by torchlight, and in sight 
of the Spanish army, is truly terrific. 

A great festival to Mexitli was held on the last day 
of the first month, of which Gomara gives us a fearful 
account. "On this day, a hundred slaves were sacri- 
ficed ; this done, they plucked off the skins of a cer- 
tain number of them ; the which skins so many ancient 
persons put on immediately, on their naked bodies, all 
fresh and bloody as they were taken from the dead 
bodies ; and being open at the back part, and at 
the shoulders, they used to lace them, so that they came 
fit upon the bodies of those that ware them ; and being 
in this order attired, they came to dance, among many 
others. In Mexico, the king himself did put on one of 
these skins, being of a principal captive, and danced 
among the other disguised persons, to exalt and honour 
the feast ; and an infinite number followed him to be- 
hold his terrible gestures, and to contemplate his great 
devotion. After the sacrifice ended, the owners of the 
slaves did carry their bodies home to their houses, to 
make of their flesh a solemn feast to all their friends, 
leaving their heads and hearts to the priests, as their 
duty and offering; and the skins were filled with cotton, 
wool, or straw, to be hung in the temple and king's 
palace, for a memorial." 

- We have already noticed the great festival of 
the arrival of the gods in the temple of Tezcatli- 



270 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



poca ; on that occasion, human sacrifices were offered. 
Those to Tlaloc we shall now proceed to describe. 
These were at three separate seasons ; at the first, two 
children were drowned in the lake of Mexico, but in 
the provinces they killed them on the mountains; they 
were a boy and a girl, from three to four years old. 
In this last case, the bodies were preserved in a stone 
chest. At the second, four children, from six to 
seven years of age, (who were bought for the purpose, 
the price being contributed by the chiefs,) were shut up 
in a cavern, and there left to die with hunger, as the 
cave was never opened till the next festival. The third 
continued for three months during the rainy season, 
and while this lasted, children were offered up every 
day on the mountains ; these also were bought ; the 
hearts and the blood were given in sacrifice ; the 
bodies were feasted on by the chiefs and the priests. 

Human sacrifices were offered occasionally to the 
Sun, to propitiate his favour, and to prevent his being 
annihilated, as the four former suns were. On this 
occasion, the victim was burnt to death. 

Acosta tells us, also, that men were also sacrificed to 
Virichoca, and that the head of the unhappy victim 
was held back in a wooden collar, wrought in form 
of a snake. And the huge serpent composed of stones 
and bitumen, which Pietro Martire saw at Campeachy, 
and which was made in the act of devouring a marble 
lion, was then warm with the blood of recent human 
victims. 

The dress of the priests is thus described by Gomara. 
"After this, came all the religious men, the priests, 
and ministers to the idols, who were many, and strange 
to behold, all clothed in white, like unto surplices, and 
hemmed with cotton thread. Some brought instru- 
ments of music, like unto cornets, &c." 

Their temples were, for the most part, huge mounds 



FESTIVALS AND SACRIFICES. 



271 



of earth, made square, and faced with stone ; a flight 
of stone steps led up to them, and surrounded them to 
the summit, where was the altar of the god. The 
great Cu, or temple, at Mexico, was reached by one 
hundred and fourteen steps ; that of Tezcuco, one 
hundred and sixteen ; that at Cholula, one hundred and 
twenty. Gold, jewels, the different seeds of the coun- 
try, and human blood, were thrown in at the foundations. 
When the Spaniards rased the great Cu at Mexico, to 
make way for a church to Santiago, they found trea- 
sure more than sufficient to build and decorate the 
church. Before the temples were courts, kept very 
clean, "and planted with the trees called Ahuchuetl, 
which are evergreens, and which give a pleasant shade. 
In the comfort of this shade, the priests sat, and awaited 
those who came to make sacrifices or offerings to the 
idol. 

Among the Mexican priests, there were many species 
of penance observed, such as watching and fasting, 
but the most painful was that performed every four 
years in honour of Quetzalcohuatl. They sat round 
the walls of the temples, each holding a censer in his 
hand, nor were they permitted to move from this pos- 
ture, except to obey the calls of nature. They were 
allowed two hours sleep after the commencement of 
night, and half that time at sunrise. At midnight, 
they bathed, smeared themselves with a black unction, 
and pricked their ears, in order to offer the blood ; the 
remaining twenty-one hours they sate incensing the 
idol, and in that posture took the little sleep permitted 
them. This continued sixty days; if any one slept out 
of his time, his companions pricked him: the ceremony 
continued twenty days more, but they were then 
allowed more sleep. 



272 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE MEXICAN BELIEF IX THE IMMORTALITY OF THE 
SOUL, AND IN HEAVEN. 

The Mexicans, like most, if not all idolatrous nations, 
had preserved the notion of the soul's immortality, and 
distinguished three places of abode for the soul, when 
separated from the body. Those of soldiers who died 
in battle, or in captivity among their enemies, and 
those of women who died in labour, went to the house 
of the Sun, w T hom they considered as the Lord of Glory, 
and there they led a life of endless delight; where 
every day at the appearance of the sun's rays, they 
hailed his birth with rejoicings and with dances, and 
the sound of voices and instruments accompanied him 
to his meridian ; there they met with the souls of the 
women, and with the same festivity accompanied hirn 
to his setting. They next supposed that these spirits, 
after four years of this glorious life, went to animate 
clouds, and birds of beautiful feather and sweet song, 
but always at liberty to rise again to heaven, or to 
descend upon the earth, to warble and suck the 
flowers. 

The souls of those who were struck by lightning, of 
those who died by disease, went, with the souls of the 
children sacrificed to Tlaloc, to a place called Tlalocan, 
the paradise of that god. This was a cool, shady 
place, where they had the most delicious repasts, and 
every other kind of pleasure. Lastly, those who suf- 
fered any other kind of death, went to Mictlan, or 
hell, which they considered to be a place of utter dark- 
ness, in the centre of the earth, but where, however, 
there was no other kind of misery than the darkness 
just mentioned. All those entitled to a place in Tla- 



IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 273 

locan were buried, and a rod or bough was placed in 
their hands, that in that beautiful paradise it might 
bloom again. The spirits of all those children who 
had been offered to Tlaloc, were believed to be present 
at all after sacrifices, under the care of a large and 
beautiful serpent, called Xiuhcoatl. This serpent was, 
at other times, supposed to inhabit a cave, sacred to the 
water-god, in the country of the Mistecas. The en- 
trance was concealed, and the sanctuary was conse- 
quently known but to few ; it was necessary first to 
crawl the space of a musket-shot, and then to walk 
through a path, sometimes broad and sometimes nar- 
row, for a mile, before the great dome was reached ; 
this was seventy feet long, and forty feet wide; here 
were the idol and the altar; the former was merely a 
rude column of stalactite, and the other a rock of the 
same material. The ways of the cave were so intri- 
cate, that many who had unwarily bewildered them- 
selves in it, perished, and were said to have been eaten 
by the serpent. 

It was not without some dangers that the first-named 
spirits arrived at the mansion of the Sun, where their 
celestial happiness was to begin. In their hands, when 
dead, the priest of Mexitli placed six aloe-leaves, 
marked with mystic characters. One of these was to 
be their passport through the six perils that awaited 
them. 

The first was that of the fighting mountains, between 
which those who passed would be, if not superna- 
turally protected, crushed to pieces ; through these 
the road lay, and also through the path of the great 
serpent. This was the second trial ; darting lightning 
from his eyes, and vibrating a tongue of fire, he seized 
on, and devoured, all who were not provided with the 
mystic aloe-leaves. The next danger was, from crossing 
the river of the crocodile, where that monstrous animal 

T 



274 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



was as dangerous as the great serpent ; the fourth was 
the passage of the eight deserts ; the fifth, that of the 
eight hills; and the sixth, the windy plain, in which 
the mountains were blown up by the roots ; after this, 
the way was plain, and the temple of the Sun open to 
receive the happy conqueror. 

There was one article of their belief, which is some- 
times mentioned ; it is, that kings and nobles have 
immortal souls, but that slaves' souls are not immortal 
unless they make them so by a voluntary death with 
their chiefs. This opinion did not prevail every where, 
but it seems to have been a universal article of belief 
among the Tlascallans, that the souls of chiefs and 
princes became clouds, or beautiful birds, or precious 
stones ; whereas those of the common people would 
pass into beetles, rats, mice, and all kinds of vermin. 

Oviedo tells us, that having opened a grave, he 
found a small iron instrument, and some maize, in the 
tomb of a labourer. Oviedo asked what it meant, and 
was told that the tomb was that of a man who had 
killed himself with his chief, and the maize was to sow 
in paradise, that neither chief nor man might want 
food. Oviedo replied, that had their creed been a true 
one, the man would have fetched the maize, and taken 
it to paradise, whereas, now it was spoiled, and good 
for nothing ; it was answered, that doubtless he would 
have done so, but that he found plenty there. 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE TRADITIONS OF THE MEXICANS. 

The traditions of this people seem principally derived 
from, and reducible to history. There is a legend con- 
cerning Quetzalcohuatl, which is a very fair instance 



TRADITIONS. 



275 



of history made mythology. This god, whose name is 
too difficult to be often repeated, was the chief of a 
band of strangers, who landed at Panuco, coming from 
the north; their dress was long, loose, and black, like 
the Turkish, open before, without hood or cape; the 
sleeves full, but not reaching quite to the elbow. Such 
dresses were worn by the people in their sacred dances 
in honour of this event. 

The leader was a white man, florid, and having a 
large beard. At first he settled in Tullan, but left 
that province in consequence of the vices of its lords, 
Huemac and Tezcatlipoca, and removed to Cholullan. 
He taught the natives to cut the green stones called 
Chalchihuites, which were so highly valued ; and to 
work silver and gold. Everything flourished in his 
reign ; the head of maize was a man's load, and the 
cotton grew of all colours; he had one palace of 
emeralds, another of silver, another of shells, one of all 
kinds of wood, one of turquoises, and one of feathers ; 
his commands were proclaimed by a crier from the 
sierra of Tzatzitepec, near the city of Tullan, and were 
heard as far as the sea-coast, and for more than a hun- 
dred leagues round. Bernardino de Sahagun heard 
such a voice once in the dead of the night, far exceed- 
ing, as he said, the power of any human voice ; he was 
told that it was to summon the labourers to the maize 
fields; both he and Torquemada, however, ascribe it 
to infernal agency. 

Notwithstanding his power, Quetzalcohuatl was 
driven out by Tezcatlipoca and Huemac. Before his 
departure he burnt or buried all his treasures, converted 
the cocoa trees into others of less worth, and sent off all 
the sweet singing birds, who had before abounded, to go 
before himtoTlapallan,thelandof the sun, whither he had 
himself been summoned. The Indians always thought 
he would return, and when first they saw the Spanish 

T 2 



276 



MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 



ships, deemed that their god was come to them in 
floating temples. They worshipped him for the useful 
arts which he had taught, for the tranquillity they had 
enjoyed under his government, and because he never 
suffered blood to be shed in sacrifice, but ordered bread, 
and flowers, and incense, to be offered up instead. 

Thus much may be legitimately deduced from the 
legend; viz., that Mexico was civilized by a foreign 
adventurer, who, it seems, attempted to destroy the 
sanguinary superstitions of the country, but was him- 
self driven out by the priests. 

We close the account of Mexican tradition with a 
notice of that interesting painting still preserved in 
the Vatican, which bears too strong a resemblance to 
the history of the fall of man to be supposed acciden- 
tal. It would seem that the Aztecks had traditions 
which had come almost pure from their Asiatic birth- 
place. The painting in question represents a woman 
in conversation with a serpent, erect ; this female is, 
we are told, the mother of mankind, called by the 
Mexicans, "Woman of our flesh ;" she is always repre- 
sented as accompanied by a serpent. This serpent is 
the genius of evil, and is sometimes represented as 
crushed and cut to pieces by the great spirit Teotl. 
Now, if it be said that the painting has been made by 
those who knew the Christian religion, and after the 
arrival of the Spaniards, it will be sufficient to observe, 
that the first bishop of Mexico destroyed all the paint- 
ings and all the images which he could, and was far 
from allowing mixtures to be made of the Christian 
faith and the Azteck mythology; that such a spirit 
did not exist in any of the Roman Catholic missiona- 
ries, or discoverers ; that, so far from finding similari- 
ties between their own creed and that of the Mexicans, 
they invariably made the religious system of the latter 
as diabolical as possible, comparing it only to hell and 



TRADITIONS. 



277 



the devils ; and truly there was but too much reason 
to do so. Lastly, if those who first investigated the 
subject had been liable to a suspicion of this kind of 
literary forgery, the present painting is borne out by a 
colossal figure representing a serpent swallowing a 
woman, and to which nearly the same legend is 
attached ; and, as Mr. Deane justly remarks, in his 
treatise on Serpent Worship, the agreement of sculp- 
ture and painting, among an unlettered people, may be 
deemed a testimony equivalent to written history. 



278 



Section IX. 

NORTHERN AND ANCIENT ENGLISH 
MYTHOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY, AND ITS ORIGIN; AND 
OF THE EDDA. 

Among the systems of mythology, or false worship, 
which at various periods have prevailed in the world, 
not the least remarkable is that which obtained among 
the ancient Scandinavian nations. To the English 
reader it is peculiarly interesting. It was the religion 
of his Saxon ancestors, — it was that of the Danes, 
who, for a considerable period, held possession of the 
kingdom, — and had, at no very remote period, been that 
of the Normans, who afterwards obtained the sove- 
reignty over Britain. The descendants of these na- 
tions, with those of the Roman invaders, form the 
bulk, nearly the whole, of the English people ; and as 
the Roman worship totally disappeared in this country 
long before the final establishment of Christianity, 
there are no originally English families whose fore- 
fathers did not profess the religion of Odin. It is also 
worthy of attention on account of the sublimity of its 
philosophy, the splendour of its poetry, and the light 
it casts on the history and antiquities of the time in 
which it flourished. 

This system of mythology was, according to the best 
authorities, brought into the North during the war 



THE EDDA. 279 

carried on by Pompey against Mithridates ; deriving 
its origin from Asia, from thence spreading into Cini- 
bria immediately, and, in the course of about a cen- 
tury, into Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and 
Iceland. Here it continued to subsist until about the 
year 980, at which time the last remnants of it had 
disappeared, and those countries had all acknowledged 
the truth of Christianity. It was first introduced into 
England by the Saxons, who, called in to defend the 
Britons against the Picts and Scots, soon became them- 
selves the masters of the country. As the arms of the 
Saxons prevailed, so this creed also advanced, until the 
completion of the Heptarchy, in the year 580, from 
which time it was the national religion ; nor was any 
other tolerated till Ethelbert, king of Kent, embraced 
Christianity in the year 630. This monarch, one of 
the greatest kings of the Heptarchy, had married 
Bertha, daughter of Caribert, king of Paris, by whom 
being converted to the truth, he, assisted by the monk 
Augustine and other missionaries from Gregory the 
Great, who was then pope, easily persuaded his sub- 
jects to follow his example. From this time the reli- 
gion of Odin gradually, but steadily, declined in this 
country, and may be said to have finally disappeared 
during the reign of Alfred. 

The knowledge we possess of this system of mytho- 
logy is derived principally from a work of Snorro 
Sturleson*, an illustrious Icelander, of the thirteenth 
century, who, from the songs of the scalds or bards, and 
an ancient sacred poem called the Edda, compiled a 
full account of it. Snorro, though himself a Christian, 
called his work " The Edda," from the poem above 
mentioned. The word signifies Grandmother, and was 

* Snorro was one of the greatest men of his age ; he was 
equally eminent as a statesman, a historian, and a legislator. 



280 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



applied to the poem in question to denote its antiquity 
and its sanctity ; it was, in fact, used in the same 
figurative sense in which we use the phrase, " Mother 
Church," and had that meaning long before the intro- 
duction of Christianity into these regions. 

This work, which is written in the ancient Icelandic 
or Eunic language, is in the form of a catechetical 
conversation between a king of Sweden, named Gang- 
ler, and three mysterious persons, called Har, Jafnhar, 
and Thridi. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE SUPREME BEING, OF THE GIANTS, AND THE 
CREATION OF THE GODS. 

The first thing which strikes the reader of the Edda, 
is the lofty and sublime manner in which the Supreme 
Being is there spoken of ; he is termed, " one and in- 
divisible," — " governing all things," — " omniscient," 
and " omnipotent," — " the Creator," — " the Preserver," 
— " the Destroyer," — " the Eternal." He has twelve 
names, all expressive of his attributes ; but that by 
which he is generally known is " Alfader," or, Father 
of all. 

This great Being was not, however, the object of re- 
ligious worship, which was only paid to the subordi- 
nate deities ; nor must he be confounded with Odin, 
the chief of the gods. 

It may be useful to point out the difference, by ob- 
serving, that at the time of the creation Odin had no 
existence, whereas Alfader was himself the Creator ; he 
was also believed to be eternal, and dwelt in an ever- 
lasting habitation called Gimle, to which none were 



THE SUPREME BEING. 



281 



admitted but those whose lives had been pure and 
just. Whereas the Hall of Odin, named Valhalla, 
"was open to warriors exclusively, without regard to 
their conduct in other respects ; it was, however, not 
eternal, but destined to perish with Odin, at a period 
of which we shall speak hereafter, called the twilight 
of the gods. 

There is much reason to believe that the Northern 
philosophers wished to represent fate under the name 
of Alfader, and that the materials from which the 
Edda is derived form one grand and consistent scheme 
of fatalism. The cosmogony of these philosophers is 
thus set forth in a very ancient sacred poem, called the 
Yoluspa, the coincidence of which, in parts, with the 
first chapter of Genesis, cannot fail to strike the ob- 
server: — " In the beginning there was neither shore 
nor sea ; the earth was not to be found below nor in 
the heavens above ; all was one vast abyss ; to the 
north was Nifleheim, (or Evil-home,) a frozen wild, and 
to the south Muspelsheim, a world glowing and lumi- 
nous, not to be dwelt in by strangers. Here abideth 
Surtur the black*/' The Yoluspa then proceeds to in- 
form us that the icy vapours of the north were melted 
and run into drops by the fiery vapours of the south ; 
and that from these drops was formed an immense 
giant, named Ymir ; while Ymir slept, a son and a 
daughter sprang from his arm-pits, and another son 
from his feet. These were the ancestors of a race 
called, from their origin, the giants of the frost. They 
subsisted on the milk of the cow CEdumla, which 
flowed from her in four rivers. The cow was formed 
in the same manner as Ymir, and supported herself 
by licking the hoar frost and salt from the rocks of ice, 

* Surtur was an evil spirit, expected to act a prominent 
part in the universal destruction. 



282 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



But these rivers of milk were far from being the most 
important production of the cow GEdumla ; on the 
first day of her creation, there arose from her the hair 
of a man, on the second day the rest of the head, and 
on the third, the entire form, endowed with beauty, 
agility, and power. He is called in the Edda, Bure, 
and was the father of Bore, who, marrying a daughter 
of one of the giants, had three sons, Odin, Vile, and 
Ve. Odin, whose descent is thus related, was the 
principal divinity ; the Edda gives the words of Har 
on the subject, thus: " And Har said, It is our belief 
that Odin, with his brothers, ruleth heaven and earth/' 
After this mention of the triad, we hear no more of 
Yile and Ye, save in one other passage of the Edda, 
where they are mentioned as having assisted at the 
creation of man. They were not worshipped, nor 
were they ever spoken of in the songs of the scalds. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, AND OF MAN. 

The events related in the preceding chapter, are all 
supposed to have taken place before the creation of 
this world. What the Northern philosophers call 
" the creation," is the creation of Ymir, and that of 
the gods. 

The giants and the gods, now the joint possessors of 
the abyss, did not long continue in amity ; the latter 
prevailed in the contest, slew Ymir, and out of his 
body made the heavens, that is, the firmament, and 
the earth. The mode in which this was done was, 
first dragging the body of Ymir into the middle of the 



CREATION OF THE WORLD. 



283 



abyss, they cut it in pieces, and the flesh mouldering 
away, formed the earth, his blood formed the sea, in 
which, as it flowed from his wounds, all the giants of 
the frost, save one named Bergelmer, were drowned ; 
he escaped in his bark, and his descendants were the 
giants who were afterwards at war with the gods. 

To return, however, to the creation of the world: 
each part of the giant's body formed a corresponding 
part of the new world ; his bones became mountains ; 
his teeth rocks ; his hollow bones the bed of the sea ; 
his skull the arch of heaven ; with his eyebrows the 
gods formed the city Midgard, and his brains they tossed 
into the air, where they became clouds. 

The world being thus made, the gods next took fire 
from Muspelsheim, which they scattered in the firma- 
ment to enlighten the earth ; but in order to regulate 
the course of the two greater luminaries, Alfader 
placed in the heaven, Night and Day. Night was the 
daughter of the giant Nor, who, marrying into the 
family of the gods, had, by Daglingar, a son, who was 
named Day. 

There is a peculiarity in the Northern mythology 
that has, according to some writers, occasioned in the 
German, and all Gothic languages, the sun to be called 
feminine, and the moon masculine. The cause of this 
choice has never been satisfactorily explained, but the 
fable is thus related : — " There was," says the Edda, 
" formerly a man who had two children, who were so 
beautiful, that he called his son Mane (the moon), and 
his daughter Sunna (the sun) ; but the gods, offended 
at his presumption, carried off his children, and com- 
pelled them, under the direction of Night and Day, to 
guide the course of those luminaries after whom they 
had been too arrogantly named." 

It is very probable, however, that the fable owes its 
origin to the grammatical peculiarity, rather than that 



284 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



to the fable, and the superior beauty of the sun might 
be the reason of its being called feminine, more parti- 
cularly as the female sex was held in high veneration 
among the Northern nations. The children Mane and 
Sunna were thought to be represented by the spots on 
the moon, in which poetic fancy discerned the figures 
of a boy and a girl carrying a pitcher suspended be- 
tween them on a stick. The children, it may be re- 
marked, were carried off while bringing water from a 
fountain. The eclipses of the sun and moon were 
supposed to be caused by two wolves, one of which 
followed each luminary ; these wolves sprang from the 
giants, and, therefore, hostile to the gods, continually 
endeavour to swallow the sun and the moon ; in this 
attempt they are sometimes partially, sometimes en- 
tirely successful, but they are never able to retain 
their prey. 

Shortly after the creation of the world, the gods, 
walking by the side of the sea, found two pieces of 
wood washed up by the waves ; of these they made a 
man and a woman. Odin gave them life and soul ; 
Vile, reason and motion ; Ye bestowed on them the 
senses, clothing, and a name ; they were called, the 
man Aske, and the woman Emla, and the city Mid- 
gard was assigned to them by the gods as their resi- 
dence. 

Besides gods, 'men, and giants, there were three 
classes of beings much spoken of in the Northern my- 
thology, — these were Fairies, Dwarfs, and Genii. The 
Fairies, or Nornies, who were some the offspring of the 
gods, and favourable to mankind, others sprung from 
the Dwarfs and Genii, and, like their progenitors, 
wicked and malicious, were a race of beings more 
powerful than man, and presiding over his destiny ; 
the principal among them were three of divine origin, 
whose names were Urda, Yerdandi, and Skulda, (Past, 



CREATION OF THE WORLD. 



285 



Present, and Future). The Dwarfs were a tiny race of 
beings, inhabiting clefts of rocks, caverns, and subter- 
ranean recesses ; they were particularly skilled in the 
mechanical arts, and possessed of considerable power, 
but were esteemed cunning and malevolent. They 
were, in the first place, merely the worms or maggots 
engendered in the body of the slain Ymir, but the gods, 
knowing that they would be afterwards serviceable, 
bestow T ed upon them reason, speech, and an approach 
to the human shape. They were not objects of wor- 
ship, for the warriors of the North looked upon this 
pigmy race with the most supreme contempt ; while, 
on the other hand, they paid devotion to the Nornies, 
and the Good Genii, on account of their power, and sup- 
posed influence in human affairs; these good genii, 
called luminous, inhabited cities in heaven ; while the 
evil Genii of Fire inhabited the burning globe called 
Muspelsheim, with Surtur, their prince, under whose 
command they w T ere, at the twilight of the gods, suc- 
cessfully to attempt the destruction of heaven and 
earth, and the gods themselves. There were, also, the 
Black Genii, who dwelt beneath the earth, and who 
were powerful and malevolent. 



CHAPTER V. 

OF HEAVEN AND HELL. 

The heaven of the Northern nations was supposed to 
be in the highest parts of the earth ; it was repre- 
sented as a vast plain of perpetual beauty, varied with 
splendid and innumerable cities, some of gold, others 
of fine silver, and others of materials yet more costly. 
Of these cities, four are remarkable. 



286 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



1. Asgard, which is the metropolis ; this is, as its 
name imports, the residence of the gods. In it is the 
Hall of Judgment, the Palace of Gladheim, (Glad- 
home), the Hall of the goddesses called Vinglod, or 
the Palace of Love, and Valhalla, the Hall of Odin. 

2. Alfheim, the abode of the luminous genii. 

3. Glitner, the city of gold and silver. 

4. Valascialf, which is built of pure silver, and con- 
tains the royal throne of Odin. 

This is a brief description of the heaven of the 
Scandinavians, to which, the only approach was over 
the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow). 

The city Asgard is overshadowed by the sacred ash, 
Ydrasil, whose branches reach far above heaven, while 
its roots extend deep beneath the earth ; under them, 
are the foundations of hell. Beneath one of its roots, 
which stretches far into the country of the Giants, is 
the Spring of Wisdom ; but the principal glory of this 
celestial city is Valhalla, the Hall of Odin, in which 
that deity receives all those who died fighting, or by 
violence, (suicide was a sufficient title for entrance 
here.) " The heroes," says the Edda, " who obtain 
this reward, have every day the pleasure of arming 
themselves, of passing in review, ranging themselves 
in order of battle, and joining in the fight ; but as 
soon as the hour of repast arrives, they return unhurt 
to the Hall of Odin, where they crowd around the 
banquet. Here, though their numbers cannot be 
counted, the flesh of the boar Serimnar is sufficient 
for all; every day is it served up at table, and every 
day is its life and flesh renewed. Here they drink 
mead and beer from the skulls of foes whom they have 
themselves slain in battle ; one single goat, whose milk 
is mead, furnishes daily enough of that liquor to in- 
toxicate all the heroes ; a crowd of beautiful virgins, 
called Valkyruir, wait upon the heroes, and fill their 



HEAVEN AND HELL 



287 



cups ; while Odin, to whom alone wine is served, sits 
apart, and looks with stern satisfaction on the banquet." 
But this scene of fierce revelry was not the only 
heaven of which the Northern nations had any idea. 
The Voluspa informs us that beyond the clear blue 
there is another heaven called the boundless, and in 
this is situated the glorious city Gimle, the eternal and 
unchangeable. Into this incorruptible abode of felicity 
those were admitted, and those only, whether warriors 
or not, whose lives had been pure, just, and holy. 

This double system, if it may be so called, extends 
to punishment, as well as to reward; and as we find 
two heavens, one perishable and one eternal, so we 
shall see that there were two places of punishment ; 
one, Nifleheim, (or Evil-home,) will be destroyed with 
Valhalla ; and one, Nastrond, (the Shore of the Dead,) 
w r hich shall endure for ever. In Nifleheim are punished 
all who die by old age or disease, all cowards and fugi- 
tives in battle. The Runic bards have done their 
utmost to represent the terrors of this abode. " Hela, 
or Death," says the Edda, " holds absolute sway over 
the nine worlds, called Nifleheim. Grief is her hall, 
Famine her table, Delay, her servant ; her gate is Pre- 
cipice, her porch, Faintness ; Leanness, her bed ; Cur- 
sing and Howling her tent. One half of her is blue, 
and the other half the colour of dead flesh ; her glance 
is dreadful and terrifying, and by this alone it were 
easy to know her," 

At the last day, the dwellers in Valhalla and Nifle- 
heim will come forth, and be tried, no longer by the 
rule of warlike achievements, but by that of moral 
justice ; those who, however unwarlike, have been good 
and just, Avill be admitted to the endless glories of 
Gimle, while those who, though valiant, have been 
cruel, unjust, and rapacious, will be thrust down to 
Nastrond. 



288 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



One quotation will suffice to show the manner in 
which this place of despair was represented by the 
poets. " Nastrond is far below Nifleheim ; it is a 
dreary plain, of boundless extent, on which stands a 
colossal structure, fearful in appearance, composed of 
the carcasses of serpents with their heads turned to the 
inside ; from them flow so much venom as to form a 
long black river, in which float the souls of the damned, 
while a wolf, an all-devouring monster, torments them 
as they roll along." From this dreadful punishment, 
the heroes in Valhalla were only exempt, if their vir- 
tues could secure them entrance into Gimle, as their 
valour had into the Hall of Odin. 



CHAPTER V. i 

OF THE GODS ; AND FIRST, OF ODIN. 

Alfader, the Supreme Being, not being considered an 
object of religious worship, the chief of the divinities 
so honoured, was Odin, the king of the world, the 
ruler of gods, men, fairies, dwarfs, and luminous genii. 
As might be expected from the fierce and intractable 
nature of the Northern warriors, their principal deity 
was the god of war, and as such, he is usually called 
in the Edda, u Odin, King of men, Father of slaughter, 
the terrible and severe god, the active and roaring 
deity." He is described as tearing and breaking the 
ranks of warriors, carrying among them desolalion and 
fire ; disconcerting his enemies with a look, and making 
their swords fall from their hands ; as giving victory 
and reviving courage, and naming those who were to 
be slain. He was usually attended by the Valkyruies, 



ODIN. 



289 



wlio have been already mentioned, and who flew about 
the field of battle, to bring the spirits of the slain to 
Valhalla. Odin was also the god of poetry, and 
thence called the father of verses. It should be 
remarked that the poetry of the North was conversant 
only with war and enchantment, over which Odin pre- 
sided ; he gave the runic characters their magical 
power, by virtue of which, some, called bitter runes, 
when used in incantation, were supposed to cause evil 
to be inflicted on enemies; and others, called fortunate 
runes, were believed to exert a beneficial influence 
over those in whose favour they were evoked. The 
origin of this seems to have been, that Odin, who was 
of oriental birth, introduced written characters among 
the rude inhabitants of the North, and nothing could 
possibly have a greater semblance of magic than this, 
among an uncultivated and superstitious people, to 
whom writing was before unknown ; and who, besides, 
entertained the most exalted ideas of their leader. 
The characters of the ancient Icelandic language were 
called runes, and the language itself, runic, on account 
of their having been cut into rocks, at a time when no 
other mode of perpetuating them existed. 

Frigga was the wife of Oclin, and the gods and god- 
desses were, for the most part, his children. Of these, 
twelve were particularly distinguished ; the number is 
remarkable, from its coincidence with the Greek 
mythology. The names of the other eleven are, Thor, 
Balder, Niord, Frey, Tyr, Brage, Hoder, Vidar, Uller, 
Forsette, and Yali. 

Heimdall, the sentinel of the gods, and the son of 
nine virgin sisters, was a deity of considerable conse- 
quence ; he was qualified in an extraordinary manner 
for his office of sentinel, "for he sleeps," says the Edda, 
66 less than a bird ; can see a hundred leagues by night 
and day, and so acute is his sense of hearing that he 



290 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



hears the grass growing in the earth, and the wool on 
the sheep's hacks. His duty is to prevent the giants 
from forcing their way over the bridge Bifrost, at the 
end of which is the celestial fortress, the castle of 
Heimdall." For the purpose of alarming the gods in 
cases of danger, he possesses a trumpet, the sound of 
which is heard over all creation. He is likewise dis- 
tinguished by golden teeth. 

Of the gods above-mentioned, Odin, Frigga, and 
Thor, were peculiarly distinguished ; they formed the 
triad worshipped with so much ceremony all over the 
North, particularly at Upsal. They correspond with 
the Egyptian Osiris, Isis, and Orus. Frey, Tyr, and 
Balder, were also eminent for their power. Of the 
goddesses, Frigga, (the Earth,) the goddess of prophecy, 
was the chief; after her were Saga; Eica, the goddess 
of medicine; Tylla, of beauty, secresy, and chastity; 
Freya, the wife of Hoder, and goddess of love ; Siona 
and Soona, presiding over love and marriage ; Vora, 
Synia, and Snootra, over wisdom and discretion ; Vara 
over truth ; and Lyna, the goddess of preservation. 
Gna, the messenger of Frigga, was also considered a 
goddess, as were the Yalkyruies. Such was the family 
over whom Odin ruled ; the chief members of which 
will be separately described. Of himself, it will be 
sufficient to add, that he was represented in a standing 
posture, in complete armour, with a crown on his 
head, and a drawn sword in his right hand. The fourth 
day of the week, called Odinsdaeg, by the Saxons 
Wodensdseg, and by us Wednesday, was sacred to his 
worship. 



291 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THOR AND BALDER. 

Thor, the god of the elements, and the eldest son of 
Odin and Frigga, was esteemed next to them among 
the gods. He was usually called Asa Thor, the Lord 
Thor, or Ake Thor, the Active Thor, on account of 
his power, dignity, and great exploits, in which he 
exceeded all the gods save Odin. His palace, situated 
in the air, had in it five hundred and forty halls, and 
was called Thriidwanger, though the name is some- 
times applied to his kingdom. 

The power and greatness of this deity seem to have 
mainly depended on his arms, which are much celebrated 
in Northern poetry. It will be sufficient to mention his 
chariot, drawn by he-goats, his mace and gauntlets, 
and his belt of prowess, which endues him with un- 
limited strength. By means of these, he obtained 
repeated victories over the giants, and these he used in 
his still more renowned combat with the great serpent 
Midgard. 

The particulars of this last-named conflict are as 
follows : — Midgard, the son of Loke, by Angerbode 
(the messenger of evil), was an evil spirit in the shape 
of a huge serpent, who lay at the bottom of the sea, 
where he had been cast by the gods; his size was so 
enormous, that he coiled himself round the world, and 
took his tail in his mouth. Thor, going out fishing 
with a giant, tore off the head of an ox, and having 
fixed it on a hook, threw it into the sea. The serpent 
took the bait, and Thor dragged his head out of the 
water. In the combat which ensued, Thor, in spite of 
the resistance which he experienced, and the venom 
which the serpent poured forth at him, would infallibly 

u 2 



292 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



have gained the victory, had not the giant, in whose 
boat he came out, cut the line, and the serpent plunged 
to the bottom. Thor, in revenge, killed the giant, 
whose name was Heymir, with a blow of his fist, 
threw him into the sea, to be food for the serpent, 
stamped the boat to powder, and, dilating himself to a 
colossal stature, waded to land. Many other adven- 
tures of this deity will be noticed in the present work 
under other heads. 

Thor was represented as a gigantic young man, fully 
armed, sitting on a throne, and crowned with seven 
stars. The fifth day of the week, called Thorsdseg, 
by the Saxons Thunresdeeg, and by us Thursday, was 
sacred to his worship. 

Balder, his brother, the second son of Odin and 
Frigga, the god of justice and mercy, did not dwell 
in heaven with the other gods, for he suffered 
death, and remained, therefore, in hell, where he 
resided in great magnificence. The circumstances 
under which these events took place deserve relating, 
not only for their curiosity, but because they prove the 
liability of the gods to death. Balder dreamed one 
night that his life was in danger; and telling his dream, 
the gods took an oath of all things, animate and inani- 
mate, not to touch him to his hurt; being obeyed, they 
amused themselves by cutting at him with swords, and 
discharging stones, javelins, and other weapons against 
him, without occasioning him any injury, — all things 
being mindful of the oath. Loke, the spirit of evil 
and contradiction, changing himself into an old woman, 
demanded why Balder remained unhurt. The cause 
was related by Frigga, who also added, that, deeming 
the misletoe too insignificant to do harm, they had 
omitted to take an oath from the misletoe. Loke 
immediately retired, made a dart, which he pointed 
with misletoe, and returned to the assembly; he now 



/ 

( 



THOR AND BALDER. 

addressed Hoder, who was blind, offering to direct his 
hand, that he, too, might join in the prevailing amuse- 
ment. Hoder, ignorant of what weapon he was about 
to use, suffered Loke to direct his hand, and launched 
the dart against Balder, who immediately fell dead. 
He was burned on a funereal pyre, with great pomp ; 
his wife, who died for grief, and his horse, were buried 
with him. 

After a fruitless attempt of the gods to restore him 
to life, Hermode, another brother of Balder, went, by 
desire of the gods, to entreat Hela to allow the latter to 
return, assuring her that he was beloved by all things. 
She agreed, on condition that all things should weep 
for him. At the command of the gods, all things 
animate and inanimate wept, save Loke, who assumed 
the shape of a witch : Balder, therefore, still remained 
among the dead. His ordinary appellation was Balder 
the Good. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE OTHER GODS. 

Next in rank to those already mentioned were Niord, 
and his son and daughter, Frey and Freya. Niord was 
not a son of Odin, but was adopted from the Vanes, a 
tribe of fairies, into the family of the gods, in exchange 
for Haner, a son of Odin. Niord was the god of the 
sea, of navigation, of hunting and fishing, and chiefly 
worshipped by persons engaged in those occupations. 
Hence his importance among the piratical nations of 
the North. His worship consisted in praying to him, 
and casting precious things into the sea, by way of 
offering. This tribute was always supposed to reach 
his palace, called Noatun, which was built of pearl, 



294 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



coral, and other costly marine productions: it was situ- 
ated at the bottom of the sea. Niord was esteemed 
powerful, but irascible and impetuous, and prone to 
take vengeance on those who neglected his worship. 

Frey, his son, was one of the most popular divinities : 
he was the god of rain and fertility, was brave, and 
celebrated for his exploits ; but the glory of this family 
was Freya, the goddess of love, the northern Venus. 
Her history is, however, unstained by the scandalous 
intrigues which distinguish the more southern divinity, 
with whom in other respects she corresponds. Freya 
may be said to be the Venus Urania of the other sys- 
tem. Among her privileges may be reckoned that of 
entertaining in her palace at Asgard half the slain in 
every battle. She is, of course, celebrated for her 
beauty, and is usually represented as sitting in a chariot 
drawn by two cats. She sheds silver tears on account 
of the absence of Hoder, her husband, who was banished 
from among the gods on account of his being the cause 
(though innocent,) of Balder' s death. Her name sig- 
nifies lady, and from it is derived the term for lady in 
the German and other northern languages. The fifth 
day of the week, called Freyasdaeg, now Friday, was 
consecrated to her. 

Tyr, the god of might, pictured as a strong man 
armed, and having only one hand, was a deity of great 
power and consequence, presiding over contention; and 
being noted for sagacity, he was especially invoked 
in combats and in warlike councils. There appears 
strong reason to believe him to be the same as the 
ancient German Tuiston, or Tuisco. The third day of 
the week, called Tyrsdaeg, by the Saxons Tiwsda3g, and 
by us Tuesday, was appropriated to his worship. 

The other sons of Odin were, Vali, the god of 
archery, — Vidar, the god of silence, who was almost 
equal in strength to Thor, and possessed thick shoes 



THE OTHER GODS. 



295 



of so wonderful a texture that by means of them 
he could walk on the water, — and Brage, the god 
of eloquence. There was also Uller, the son-in-law 
of Thor, the god of skating and single combat, to 
whom all persons about so to contend offered devotion : 
he was also remarkable for his beauty. 

Forsette, the son of Balder, filled his fathers place 
among the gods, as presiding over judgment. His 
palace, where he decided all disputes, whether among 
gods or men, was in that celestial city called Glitner. 

Among the goddesses, Iduna, the wife of Brage, must 
not be forgotten. She had possession of those mystic 
apples, which, when the gods felt themselves growing 
old, they ate, and were thereby restored to youth. 
The custody of a treasure so important made Iduna 
much respected among the gods. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OF LOKE AND HIS CHILDREN. 

In the preceding chapters a brief account has been 
given of the gods, their powers and history. The 
giants, who lived apart, and who were always hostile 
to the gods, numbered among their descendants Loke, 
the spirit of mischief. It does not appear how Loke 
became so intimate and so well received by the family 
of Odin; but the fact was so evident, that many of the 
poets rank him among the gods: he was never much 
trusted, however, and was called the artificer of fraud. 
Surpassing most created beings in skill and beauty, and 
all in inconstancy and perfidy, he remained on indif- 
ferently good terms with the gods, sometimes at peace, 
sometimes at war, but always escaping punishment, till 



296 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



the death of Balder, at which they were so exasperated 
that he was obliged to fly and hide himself in the moun- 
tains. Here he built a house open on all sides, (supported 
by pillars,) from which he could see whatever took place 
in the world; and by means of his cunning he pre- 
vented the frequent searchirigs and stratagems of the 
gods from taking effect. "When pursued, he changed 
himself into a salmon, and secreted himself among the 
stones at the bottom of deep rivers, and of the sea. 

One day while he was amusing himself with making 
some nets to catch fish, the gods came upon him sud- 
denly. Loke at once sprang into the river, having first 
thrown the net on the fire; but Kuaser, one of the 
gods, traced out the vestiges of the net in the hot 
ashes, and, making a similar net, used Loke's invention 
against himself. Thor took hold of the net by one 
end, and all the rest of the gods by the other; but 
Loke hid himself between two stones, and the net 
passed over him. 

A second trial was more successful ; for though Loke 
leaped over the net, yet when he attempted the same 
again, Thor caught him by the tail while leaping, " which 
is the reason," says the Edda, " why salmon have ever 
since then had tails so fine and thin." Once secured, 
they compelled him to resume his proper shape, and 
dragged him to a cavern, where they bound him with 
the intestines of his sons, Vali and Nari, whom they 
slew for that purpose: he was, besides, tied with three 
cords, which were afterwards changed into iron chains. 
Over his head Skada suspended a serpent, the venom 
of which falling on his head, drop by drop, caused him 
unutterable agonies, till Siguna, his wife, sat by his 
side with a basin, in which she caught the drops as 
they fell. He did not, however, entirely escape this 
part of his punishment; for as soon as the basin was 
filled, Siguna was obliged to pour out the contents. 



LORE AND HIS CHILDREN. 



29/ 



During this time the drops from above fell on his face 
as before, which made him howl and writhe with 
anguish. " This," says the Edda, " causes what men call 
earthquakes/' In this state Loke was supposed to be, 
and destined so to remain, till the twilight of the gods, 
at which period he was expected to burst his chain, 
and fight with success against them. His wives were, 
first, Angerbode, the giantess, afterwards Siguna: by 
the first he had Hela, the goddess of death, (whom the 
gods in fear cast down to hell, of which, however, they 
permitted her to take the government,) the great ser- 
pent Midgard, and the wolf Fenris; by the second, 
Siguna, he had Yali and Nari. As to the wolf Fenris, 
" the gods/' says the Edda, " brought him up among 
themselves, Tyr only venturing to give him his meat ; yet 
seeing him daily increasing in size and strength, and 
being warned by the oracles that he would one day be 
fatal to their power, they determined to confine him." 
To this end they made chains and fetters of iron, which 
they persuaded the wolf to put on; but these he 
snapped to pieces immediately. After this they made 
stronger chains, which the wolf was at first unwilling 
to put on; but at length, considering his power, and 
the glory he should get by foiling the gods, he suffered 
himself to be bound, and, after great exertion, burst 
the fetters, and made the pieces fly about him. The 
gods now plainly saw that no bands they could make 
would confine the monster. They accordingly applied 
to the black genii, who soon furnished them w r ith a 
string, apparently like a common string, but of won- 
derful strength. The materials of which this cord w r ere 
made were very singular, for among them w T e find the 
breath of fishes, the noise made by a cat's feet in walk- 
ing, the roots of mountains, the beards of women, the 
spittle of birds, and the nerves of bears. Armed with 
this chain, the gods took the wolf into an island in a 



298 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



certain lake, where they showed the chain, assuring 
him that it was very strong, that they could not break 
it, and that none but he could, and entreating him to 
allow it to be bound round him. At first he objected 
that no glory could accrue to him from breaking so 
slight a string; but when he was repeatedly told that 
it was much stronger than he thought, he began to 
suspect it to be enchanted, and absolutely refused. 
The gods ridiculed his fear, and at last he was per- 
suaded to be bound: he insisted, however, that one of 
them should put his hand in his (the wolfs) mouth, 
as a pledge that they intended no treachery. The gods 
looked wistfully one at another; at last Tyr complied 
with this extraordinary demand, put his hand into the 
wolfs mouth, and the chain was put on. The monster, 
finding escape impossible, bit off the hand of Tyr, and 
the other gods, moved by his vain struggles, burst into 
loud fits of laughter. One end of the cord was then 
made fast to a rock, through which the gods bored a 
hole on purpose, and sunk it deep in the earth; the 
other end they attached to a stone, which they sunk 
yet deeper. It was not without an attempt at revenge 
that Fenris thus lost his liberty. Opening his tre- 
mendous jaws, he attempted to devour the gods, but 
they thrust a sword into his mouth, so as to prevent 
its closing. The ravings he then made were horrible, 
and since that time the foam has continually run from 
his mouth in a river called Yam, or the Yices. Thus 
he will remain till the twilight of the gods. It may- 
seem strange that the gods did not destroy both Loke 
and Fenris ; but the answer is thus given: " The blessed 
abodes of the gods may not be . stained with blood; 
hence, though they know that these will one day be 
fatal to them, they content themselves with thus con- 
fining their enemies. " 



299 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE HORSE AND SHIPS OF THE GODS. 

The history of Sleipner, the horse of Odin, is thus 
given in the Edda. The gods, wishing to build a city 
where they might be secure from the giants, an archi- 
tect offered to build one, but demanded for his reward 
the sun, the moon, and the goddess Freya. To these 
terms the gods, by the advice of Loke, agreed ; for he 
assured them that the contract could not be fulfilled, 
and hence they would get a part of the work done for 
nothing. The time was therefore limited to one Win- 
ter; and if on the first day of Summer the city were 
not complete, the architect was to lose his reward. On 
the last day of Winter the city was complete, save 
putting up the gates. This speed the architect had 
been enabled to make by the help of his horse, which 
did as much work as its owner; but the gods, seeing 
the work so nearly completed, and considering the loss 
they should suffer if the sun, the moon, and Freya, 
were carried off, seized upon Loke, the author of the 
advice, and threatened to put him to death unless he 
extricated them from the dilemma into which he had 
brought them. Loke, in obedience to their will, caused 
a mare to leap from the forest, and allure the horse of 
the architect by her neighings. The architect, left to 
his own strength, and finding himself unable to finish 
his work alone, resumed his original stature, which 
w r as that of a giant. He had disguised himself as long 
as it was possible, because he would not have been safe 
among the gods had they known to what race he be- 
longed. As soon as they discovered it, they no longer 
held themselves bound by their agreement; and Thor, 
running up to the giant, dashed out his brains with his 
mace. Loke afterwards brought to the gods a foal, 



300 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



-which had eight feet, to which the mare had given 
birth: this was called Sleipner, and is the horse of 
Odin. 

The ships of the gods were two, — Nagelfara and 
Skidbladner, — of which the former was the largest, but 
the latter the best. The distinguishing excellencies of 
Skidbladner were three. First, It was so large as to 
contain all the gods armed. Secondly, When they 
were on board, a favourable wind would arise, and 
carry it into the destined port. Thirdly, When the 
voyage was completed, it might be taken to pieces, and 
would go into a very small compass. This ship was 
built by the dwarfs, who presented it to the god Frey. 

The history of the other ship is of a more fearful 
character. It is composed of the nails of dead men, 
and is not to be set afloat till the twilight of the gods, 
when the giant Rymer will be its pilot. Caution is 
given in the Edda not to die with unpared nails, as he 
who does so contributes to the building of this ship, 
which gods and men would wish to delay as long as 
possible. 



CHAPTER X. 

OF ENCHANTMENTS AND ILLUSIONS. 

The gods of the Northern nations, terrible as they were 
in their attributes, were yet liable to the frailties of 
humanity ; they were not only subject to death, and 
fated to be at last destroyed, but their wisdom was 
often but superficial, and left them exposed to the 
superior cunning of their enemies, the giants. 

Of the manner in which they were cheated, some 
curious instances occur in the history of Thor, one of 



ENCHANTMENTS AND ILLUSIONS. 



301 



which deserves attention, were it only from the circum- 
stance, that its principal features are preserved in the 
popular tale of Jack the Giant Killer. It is the his- 
tory of Thor s journey into the country of the giants. 
Accompanied by Loke, he proceeded in his chariot, till 
on the approach of night, they went into the house of 
a shepherd to rest. Here Thor killed the goats by 
which his chariot was drawn, and causing them to be 
dressed for supper, he invited the shepherd and his 
family to partake the repast. They then retired to 
sleep. The next morning Thor put the bones of the 
goats into their skins, and waving his mace over them, 
they resumed their original shape ; but one of the 
animals proved lame, and in answer to inquiries, it 
appeared that Thialfe, the shepherd's son, had, contrary 
to the express orders of Thor, broken the bones of his 
share in the repast of the preceding evening. Thor, 
though greatly enraged, contented himself by taking 
with him Thialfe and his sister Raska, making the 
former carry the wallet. They now proceeded on foot, 
and swimming over an arm of the sea, entered the 
country of the giants. At nightfall they found a large 
house open on one side, in a chamber of which they 
passed the night; but, awakened by a frightful noise, 
they left the house to ascertain its cause; they soon 
found that it was the snoring of a huge giant who lay 
on the ground. Thor put on his belt of prowess, but 
the giant having now awaken, Thor was fearful of at- 
tacking him. A little conversation now ensued, in 
which the giant signified his knowledge of the god, 
and informed him that his own name was Skrymer. 
Thor now found, to his utter astonishment, that the 
house he had entered was but the glove of the giant, 
the chamber in which he and his companions slept 
being only the hnger. Skrymer now offered to con- 
duct them ; and the next night, while resting beneath 



302 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



a tree, Thor was told to help himself out of Skrymer s 
wallet while the latter slept. Finding some difficulty 
in untying the knot of the wallet, Thor became indig- 
nant, and struck the giant on the head with his mace ; 
the monster awoke, and asking if a leaf had not fallen 
upon him, fell asleep again ; another unsuccessful at- 
tempt to open the wallet provoked Thor a second time 
to strike the giant with his mace ; he again woke, and 
after complaining of the fall of the leaves from the 
tree, re-composed himself to sleep ; a third time Thor 
attacked him, and buried the mace up to the handle in 
the giant's forehead ; this time he thought that a fea- 
ther had tickled him : Thor, therefore, desisted from 
any further attempts, and the next day they arrived at 
Utgard, the capital city of the giants. Here, after 
many jokes upon their diminutive stature, they were at 
last admitted; the gates were not opened, but they 
were permitted to creep through the bars. 

Utgard is described as being a city so lofty, that the 
eye could only discern the towers by leaning the head 
back on the shoulders. 

The king, whose name was Utgarda Loke, having 
at length discerned Thor and Loke, informed them 
that they must support their rank as gods by great 
deeds ; he asked for some specimens of their power, 
and inquired in what they excelled. They replied, they 
could challenge competition in eating, drinking, run- 
ning, lifting, and wrestling. The challenge was ac- 
cepted by five of the gianfs court, and the contest 
began accordingly. Thor undertook the trials of 
drinking, lifting, and wrestling ; Loke that of eating; 
and Thialfe, though a mortal, was permitted to under- 
take that of running. A vast tub of provision was 
now placed before Loke and his competitor Loge ; the 
two combatants devoured their way through, and met 
at last in the middle ; but the victory was Loge's, for 



ENCHANTMENTS AND ILLUSIONS. 303 

he had consumed hoth flesh and bones, whereas Loke 
had only eaten the flesh of his portion. In the second 
trial, that of running, Thialfe was opposed on the part 
of the giants by Hugo, who was the conqueror, run- 
ning twice the space in the same time. The third 
trial was that of drinking ; a horn was offered Thor 
which he could not drain. The fourth trial was that 
of lifting ; the giant's cat was brought into court, but 
all Thor s efforts could only lift one foot. The fifth 
trial was that of wrestling ; an old and apparently 
decrepit woman appeared on the part of the giants, 
with whom Thor for some time declined to contend ; 
at length moved by arguments similar to those which 
he had employed with the wolf Fenris, he engaged in 
the struggle, and only succeeded so far as to bring the 
old woman on one knee. 

After these unsuccessful trials, the king of the giants 
gave Thor and his companions a magnificent entertain- 
ment, and before bidding them farewell, acknowledged 
that he had used every kind of enchantment against 
them ; he stated, that he himself was Skrymer, that on 
the way he had changed a mountain into his own 
shape, and beheld with horror the blows inflicted on it 
by the mace of Thor. He told the latter, that these 
were yet visible in the shape of three valleys, and that 
the slightest blow of Thor's mace would have been 
fatal had it reached its destination. He further said, 
that Loge, with whom Loke had contended in eating, 
was no living being, but a devouring flame, which, by 
the power of incantations, he had caused to assume a 
human figure, and which, therefore, consumed all it 
touched ; that Hugo, who had vanquished Thialfe in 
running, was but a personification of thought or 
spirit, with which no created being could keep pace ; 
and that the horn which Thor had been unable to 



304 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



drain, contained the sea, of which he had drank so 
deeply, that many fleets were stranded. He also re- 
marked that the cat, which Thor had in vain endea- 
voured to lift from the ground, was the great serpent 
Midgard; and that the old woman, whom he had hut 
partially overcome, w T as Hela, or Death, to whom gods, 
men, and giants, were alike subject. He concluded by 
saying, that had he known the immense strength of 
the gods, he would never have admitted them into his 
kingdom, nor would he do so in future. 

Thor at this declaration was highly enraged, and 
angry also at the tricks that had been put upon him 
and his companions ; he hurled his mace at the head 
of the giant, who, avoiding the blow, immediately 
vanished, and with him, the city and its inhabitants, in 
the place of which nothing was visible but vast plains 
of verdure. Thor, with his companions, now returned 
home. 

It will be observed, that throughout this story, Loke 
is considered as a god. 



CHAPTER XL 

OF THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, AND THE SEQUEL OF 
THE GENERAL CONFLAGRATION. 

The destruction of the visible heaven and earth, of 
gods and men, and the temporary places of reward 
and punishment, viz., Valhalla and Nifleheim, was an 
article of the Northern creed, often referred to, and 
strongly insisted on. It was spoken of under the 
highly poetical name of the twilight of the gods. 
This event, which was described in the loftiest 



TWILIGHT OF THE GODS. 



305 



strains of poetry, was not to be without its forerun- 
ners. Before its approach, an universal winter of six 
years shall prevail ; during which, according to the 
Voluspa, mankind shall become fierce, barbarous, and 
licentious ; shall shake off all the restraints of natural 
affection and moral feeling. The wolf Fenris shall 
break his chain, and devour the sun ; another monster 
shall carry off the moon. " The stars shall fall from 
heaven, the rocks shall melt away, and trees and 
mountains shall be torn up by the roots/' — " Lo ! the 
sea rushes impetuously over the earth, because the 
great serpent, now become a spectre, gains the shore. 
The ship Nagelfara is set afloat. The wolf Fenris, 
with fire flashing from his eyes and nostrils, breaks his 
chain, and the serpent pouring forth venom joins him; 
they take their station in the centre of the earth. In 
this confusion, the heavens cleave asunder, and 
through the breach the genii of fire appear on horse- 
back, commanded by Surtur the black ; passing over 
the bridge of heaven, Bifrost, they stamp it to pieces, 
and proceed to join Fenris and the serpent, forming a 
brilliant and burning squadron, a hundred degrees on 
every side. Then comes the giant Rymer, in the bark 
Nagelfara, and all the other giants, commanded by 
Loke." 

We are now told of the mode of defence adopted 
by the gods. " Heimdall with the golden teeth awa- 
kens them with his trumpet, and Odin consults the 
fountain of Mimis, under the ash Ydrasil; he arms 
himself and leads on the other gods." 

The combat that ensues is one of the favourite sub- 
jects of Northern poetry. Odin opposes himself to 
Fenris, who swallows him, but is in turn killed by 
Vidar. Thor attacks and slays the serpent Midgard, 
but is himself suffocated by the venom. Heimdall and 

x 



306 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



Loke, Tyr and the dog Garmer, fall by mutual 
wounds. Surtur destroys Frey, who opposes him, and 
immediately darts flames over the whole visible crea- 
tion and consumes it. All the gods, save Yidar and 
Yali, together with all the giants, genii, and evil 
spirits, perish in the combat, or the conflagration that 
ensues. 

After this, the Edda proceeds to say : " The univer- 
sal Father will cause a new heaven and a new earth to 
arise from the sea. An earth lovely and delightful, 
wherein is constant verdure and pleasant fields, and 
where the grass and fruits shall spring up without cul- 
tivation. Here shall abide Yidar and Yali, who shall 
escape the conflagration; Mode and Magne, the sons 
of Thor ; Balder and Hoder, from the mansions of the 
dead. They will spend their time in conversing, and 
recalling their past sorrows, to compare them with 
their present happiness. This new world shall be en- 
lightened with a new sun, a daughter of that devoured 
by Fenris, who shall continue the bright path of her 
parent.'' 

The human race shall not be wanting in this new 
world, for a man named Lif, and a woman named Lif- 
thraser, shall be concealed under a hill ; these, feeding 
on the dew, shall be the parents of a race who shall 
speedily people the new earth ; and, finally, the souls 
of the dead will be called up for judgment; the pure 
and virtuous shall be admitted to eternal happiness " in 
the glorious city wherein is the palace Gimle," while 
the violent and licentious will be consigned to ever- 
lasting punishment in Nastrond. 



307 



CHAPTER XII. 

OF THE PECULIARITIES OF THE SAXON WORSHIP. 

Having now gone briefly through the contents of the 
Edda, before we proceed to remark on its philosophy, 
and the effect it had upon the manners of the age in 
which the system therein contained was prevalent, it 
will be necessary to note a few points wherein the 
Anglo-Saxons differed from the more northern nations 
professing the same creed. These difference appear to 
consist chiefly in relics of Roman and Celtic supersti- 
tion, engrafted upon the system of the North. They 
worshipped Odin, whose name they changed to Woden ; 
Thor, whom they called Thunre; the Sun and the 
Moon, to whom the first two days of the week were 
respectively dedicated; Tyr, Frey, Freya, Frigga, 
Heimdall, and Forsette. Of the other gods, we find few 
or no traces among them. 

On the other hand, they had divinities named Irmin- 
sula, Helensted, Prono, Fidegast, and Flynt, but of 
these, Irminsula seems but another name for Odin, 
and Helensted, Prono, and Fidegast, are but other 
names for some of the subordinate deities of the 
Edda. 

Among goddesses not mentioned in the Edda, 
Rheda, Eostre, and Hertha, were the chief worship- 
ped by the Anglo-Saxons. 

They preserved the history and adventures of Loke, 
under the name Faul, and they acknowledged some 
female evil power, which they called Elf. 

But the most important addition to the Saxon Pan- 
theon, was the Roman Saturn, whom they called Se- 
terne, or Seater ; him they worshipped as the god of 
time, and represented him with a great number of 

x2 



308 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



emblems. They seem to have made him the type of 
their nation, for they pictured him as standing on the 
prickly back of a perch, to show that by worshipping 
him the Saxons should pass unharmed in the most peri- 
lous circumstances ; he was bare-headed and bare- 
footed ; in his right hand he held a pail of water, with 
fruits and flowers, to denote his presiding over hus- 
bandry : in his left hand he held a wheel, to show the 
unity of the Saxons ; round his waist, a girdle, to sig- 
nify their freedom. The seventh day of the week, 
called Seternesdseg, or Seatersdaeg, was sacred to 
him. At what time the worship of Saturn was intro- 
duced among the Anglo-Saxons, it would be impossible 
to say. 

Another instance of the admixture of Eoman mytho- 
logy with that of the North, is afforded by the in- 
stance of Irminsula. That he was the same with Odin 
is evident, from his being the god of war, and from 
prisoners and cowards being offered to him in sacrifice. 
By a rather curious anomaly, he is made the god of 
justice and mercy. But the warlike character shines 
out again, and identifies him with Mars, in the circum- 
stance of the cock being offered to him in sacrifice, and 
placed upon his crest. 

From the corruption, therefore, of the worship of 
Odin, a new deity was formed, esteemed a different 
person, and adored separately. This is a case very fre- 
quent, and is a mistake, so far from being confined to 
mythology, that parallel cases frequently occur in the 
earlier parts of authentic history, creating difficulties 
which sometimes all the researches of subsequent 
times can never elucidate. 

Flynt was a god, so called because he is represented 
as standing on a flint, and the only circumstance 
worthy of note connected with this deity is, that Flint- 
shire, in Wales, is said to take its name from him. 



PECULIARITIES OF THE SAXON WORSHIP. 309 



/ Of the goddesses, Rheda was worshipped in March, 
hence called Rhedmonath, and Eostre in March and 
April. Her name signifies "from the east," and her 
worship is of Oriental origin. Hence the anniversary 
of our Lord's resurrection is called hy the English, 
Easter, hecause the festival of this goddess corre- 
sponded with it in point of time. 

Hertha was merely a personification of the earth, 
the same as the Tellus of the Romans, and in this 
respect she corresponds with Frigga, as Irminsula does 
with Odin. Hertha was worshipped by the ancient 
Germans in the time of Tacitus ; her rites are, there- 
fore, of more ancient date than the entry of the Saxons 
into Britain, and they afford a proof that other super- 
stitions, as well as Roman relics, were blended with 
the Northern mythology, to form the Saxon system of 
divinities. 

The Sun and Moon were represented in a very 
singular manner. The former as the bust of a man, 
or more probably a woman, without arms or legs, 
having on the breast a burning wheel, and round the 
head a glory. The moon as a man habited in a short 
cloak or tunic, and a hood over the head with two 
long ears ; in his hands he held a crescent moon. 

The days of the week, which were named among 
the Saxons after the principal divinities, were as 
follows : — 

Sunday . . Sunsdseg, or the Sun's day. 

Monday . . Moonsdseg, or the Moon's day. 

Tuesday . . Tiwsdseg, or the day of Tiw (Tyr.) 

Wednesday . Wodensdseg, or the day of Odin. 

Thursday . . Tliunresda3g, or the day of Thor. 

Friday . . Freyasdaeg, or the day of Freya. 

Saturday . . Seternesdaeg, or the day of Seterne. 

These days were among other nations called respect- 
ively after the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, 



310 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



Venus, and Saturn ; an arrangement not very different, 
but these ought to coincide exactly, for the same dis- 
tribution prevailed among even the most distant nations. 
Here it appears that Thor, being the king of the elements, 
and frequently called the Thunderer, was supposed the 
same with Jove, while Odin was replaced by Mercury, 
the latter being among the Celts the principal object 
of adoration. Had it not been for this confounding of 
the Northern and Celtic creeds, the concidence would 
have been made exact. 

"With regard to the religion of the Celts, of whom 
the Druids were the priests, little is known with cer- 
tainty. The few notices found in the works of Tacitus 
and Caesar on this subject, inform us, that Mars and 
Mercury were the chief gods, that the general aspect 
of the religion was fierce and gloomy, that human 
sacrifices were among the horrors of its rites, that 
nights were reckoned before days, and give us some few 
particulars as to its effects. Bryant endeavours to 
show, that the sun was the principal object of worship, 
and deduces the system established among the Druids 
from the Persian magi. It appears to have been totally 
distinct from the mythology of the North, though it 
may have mingled with the latter some of its tenets. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION" OF ODIN ON THE 
MINDS OF ITS VOTARIES. 

Paley remarks of the Mohammedan religion, that its 
chief objects were, to make proselytes, and to make 
those proselytes soldiers. The same remark will apply 
to the system under consideration, and so well-adapted 



EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION OF ODIN. 



311 



was it to this purpose, that its votaries were men 
whose sole aim was warlike renown, whose sole fear, 
that of so dying as to forfeit admittance into Valhalla. 
Like every other idolatrous worship, it was in the 
highest degree intolerant ; it was propagated hy the 
sword, and life, if ever spared to captives, was spared 
only on condition of embracing the faith of Odin. 

This spirit was fostered, as well as demonstrated, hy 
the whole tenor of the laws, customs, and principles, 
prevalent among the Northern nations. Their fondness 
for war, their enthusiasm for death when captives, their 
contempt of life when unaccompanied hy martial dis- 
tinctions, was matter of notoriety ; and this spirit was 
supported by laws well calculated for the purpose. 
Among these, were the institution of trial by single 
combat, which established the principle, that power, 
being a visible mark of Divine approbation, gives 
indisputable right. 

The punishments inflicted upon such as fled in 
battle were dreadfully severe. Sometimes a pit of soft 
mire was prepared, into which the fugitive was allowed 
to fall, after being tossed up into the air, and then 
left to suffocation. Sometimes he was cut in pieces 
before the altar of Odin. Customs of this kind, with 
the expectation of future misery in Nifleheim, were 
sufficient to render flight in battle an event of rare 
occurrence ; and an indifference to pain in themselves 
and others, was both inculcated by precept and en- 
couraged by example. 

The most hideous tortures were inflicted upon 
prisoners, and borne with invincible courage and 
constancy. One instance worthy of note, occurred in- 
the case of Ragner Lodbrok, king of Denmark, who, 
taken prisoner by iElla, king of Northumberland, was 
cast into a dungeon filled with adders, where he 
perished. While dying, he composed an ode of great 



312 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



power and splendour, which is still extant ; in it he 
expresses his contempt of pain, his satisfaction at the 
approach of death, and his anticipations of his future 
reward in Valhalla. This prince was amply revenged 
by his sons Ubba (or Hubba,) and Ingwar, who were 
remarkable, particularly the former, for the figure 
they made in England, during the contests which agi- 
tated the earlier part of the reign of Alfred the Great. 

The domestic manners of the age operated as 
powerfully as the laws, in this respect. By an edu- 
cation entirely martial, by ranks and distinctions, 
attained solely by military achievement, the same 
warlike spirit was sustained: nor was the influence of 
women wanting, who, in the true spirit of chivalry, 
refused marks of favour and attachment to all who had 
not proved their merit by valour and military skill. 
Hagnar Lodbrok, the king of Denmark before-men- 
tioned, obtained his queen, Aslauga, the most cele- 
brated beauty of the North, by a series of adventures 
which might challenge comparison with any in the 
volumes of knight-errantry. This spirit survived 
many ages the religion to which it owed its rise. 

The institutions of chivalry bear many marks of 
Northern origin. The substitution of tilts and tourna- 
ments for gladiatorial shows, the trial by combat and 
ordeal, the respect paid to the female sex, were all so 
many remnants of an earlier system. It existed 
among those to whom chivalry was scarcely known, 
while the religion of Odin had already given way to 
Christianity. 

Siward, earl of Northumberland, who is more 
known as having commanded the English auxiliaries 
of Malcolm Canmore, king of Scotland, against Mac- 
beth, than for anything else, furnishes an example to 
the point. Siward, though a Christian, was so deeply 
tinctured with the spirit of which mention has been 



EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION OF ODIN. 313 

just made, that finding himself at the point of death, 
he commanded his armour to be buckled on, declaring, 
that though he died not in battle, he would die as a 
warrior. 

Fierce and passionate as were the votaries of this 
religion, it must not be supposed that they were desti- 
tute of virtues. They were eminent for justice ; they 
were hospitable, generous, and honourable ; adultery, 
and theft, save that wholesale robbery, called sackage 
and piracy, were unknown among them. But it must 
be acknowledged, that temperance and sobriety were 
virtues little cultivated in the North; feasting and 
drinking were the principal enjoyments in the Hall of 
Odin, and in these it is natural to suppose that his 
worshippers would indulge as much as possible on 
earth. 

A few remarks on the philosophy of the Edda, will 
conclude this chapter. By the philosophy of such a 
work, is meant those principles which, deducible from 
its doctrines and fables, make known to us the opinions 
of the best informed among its believers concerning 
nature, or the laws and powers by which the universe 
is governed, and the condition, moral and intellectual, 
of mankind. The reader of Greek philosophy will 
not fail to recognise, in the leading features of the 
Northern system, a striking coincidence with* that of 
the Stoics. This analogy will be traced in the estab- 
lishment of a belief in one Eternal and Omnipotent 
divinity, pervading all nature ; also in certain subor- 
dinate intelligences, who govern the world under the 
immutable decrees of the great First Cause, which 
decrees were termed by the Stoics, Fate. The resem- 
blance does not end here, for in both systems these 
subordinate deities were considered as merely tempo- 
rary, and destined, finally, to be absorbed into that 
great Being from whom they were originally emana- 



314 



NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 



tions. At the same time, the principle of evil was to 
be finally destroyed; and it is not a little singular, that 
this destruction is predicted, both in the Edda and in 
the works of the Stoics, as to be accomplished by fire. 
The latter tell us, that the world had been once de- 
stroyed by water, and here also the Edda has a corre- 
sponding passage. 

But the! most important point of coincidence is the 
assertion of the immortality of the soul, and its future 
abode in a new creation. The words of the Edda 
have already been quoted; those of Seneca are so 
similar, as to make it appear doubtful, whether one 
may not be a copy of the other. 

The differences in other parts are only such as may 
be referred to the different allegories and images which 
would naturally suggest themselves to the mind of a 
Greek and a Dane, an Asiatic and a Norwegian; they 
must, then, be traced to a common origin, and this is 
afforded us in the doctrines of Zoroaster, or Zerdusht. 
This philosopher, the chief of the Persian magi, 
taught, that the combat between the good and evil 
principles will be deferred to the last day ; that then 
the evil principle shall be destroyed, and the earth, 
purified by a general conflagration, shall become a 
shining and glorious abode, into which evil shall never 
be permtited to enter. 

To account for this similarity between the philosophy 
of the Edda and that of the Stoics, and to prove their 
Persian origin, it will suffice to show, that Odin, whose 
eastern descent has been already mentioned, came from 
the borders of the Caspian Sea. He was king of a 
nation called the Ases, and introduced into Europe the 
worship of a god named Odin, with whom the chief 
himself was afterwards confounded. This is shown, 
not only indirectly by passages in classical writers, but 
by the circumstance of the word Asa being applied 



EFFECTS OF THE RELIGION OF ODIN. 315 

only as a mark of homage to the gods. Berosus, as 
cited by Syncellus, gives us an account of the 
Chaldaean mythology, which closely agrees with that 
of the Edda; so that it will no longer excite wonder to 
find the doctrines of Zoroaster propagated in the 
North. 

To conclude : it may be remarked, that there is no 
system of religion which ever was broached in the 
world, that does not contain some glimmerings, how- 
ever feeble, of the truth. Of this there is but one 
source, and however it may be corrupted by mixture 
with the conjectures of man, it must have been handed 
down from the earliest period, and must be Divine in 
its origin. 



316 



Section X. 
MOHAMMEDANISM. 



, CHAPTER I. 

OF THE BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED. 

It is a melancholy reflection, that even after the advent 
of our Saviour, false worship should not only have 
continued to exist, and to exist in many countries as 
the prevailing religion, and that this should be the 
case at the present day, hut that since that period man- 
kind should have been presented with a new religion, 
deriving its origin, not from the corruptions of many 
ages, but from the daring and blasphemous invention 
of one man. 

"With regard to Mohammed himself, it has been with 
many a question whether he were really an impostor, 
or merely an enthusiast; but there is too much method 
in his madness, and too many signs of subservience to 
his own sensuality, to allow us, when we seriously con- 
sider the case, to doubt his consciousness of imposture. 
It may be, however, that having told the same story 
so many times, as he had done, he at last believed it ; 
and the enthusiasm which he pretended himself, and 
excited in his followers, could hardly leave his mind, 
at the close of so long, stirring, and energetic a career 
as his, quite at liberty to judge dispassionately, even of 
his own pretensions. His continued success, and the 
veneration which he received, must have had some 
effect on a mind so passionate as that of Mohammed ; 



BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED. 317 

and it is hence very probable, that having begun, as he 
undoubtedly did, in imposture, he ended with an en- 
thusiastic confidence in his own miraculous mission. 

If the greatness of a man be measured by the im- 
pression which he makes on the world, and the changes 
which he works in society ; then there are no personages 
of antiquity save Moses and Julius Caesar, who can be 
brought into comparison with the Arabian impostor. 

At the present time, Turkey, Persia, Arabia, all the 
north of Africa, many of the Asiatic islands, a large 
portion of India, and much of the interior of Asia, 
together with Asia Minor, are possessed by the fol- 
lowers of the false prophet. At a period only distant 
from our own by four centuries, Spain and Portugal 
were in the same condition. 

Of a 'creed which is so widely spread, the history 
must be interesting, and the personal story of its foun- 
der in particular, as developing the true principles of 
the system, and the circumstances by which it rose to 
so much importance. 

Mohammed, Mahomet, or Mahommed, for his name 
has been spelt in all these manners, and many more, 
was born at Mecca, in Arabia Felix, in the month there 
called the month of Mary, in the year of our Lord 
571 . His family was very noble, for he could trace his 
descent, in a right line, from Pher Koraish, the founder 
of the tribe of the Koraishites, which tribe was not 
only the most ancient and the most dignified, but also 
the most powerful among the Arabs. The list is thus 
given by Abul Feda : Pher Koraish — Galeb — Lawa — 
Caab — Morrah Chelab — Cosa — Abd Menaph — Hassan 
— Abdal Motalleb — Abdallah — Mohammed. 

Of these persons, there is one who deserves some 
particular notice, inasmuch as it was from him that the 
tribe of the Koraishites first derived their political 
consequence. The Caaba, at Mecca, was, long before 



318 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



its sanctification by Mohammed, an idol |temple, and, 
as such, an object of the greatest veneratioli to the 
Arabs. The presidency of this temple, which included 
also the government of the city of Mecca, had been, 
for a considerable period, in the tribe of the Cozaites ; 
and when in the hands of Abu Gabsham, of that tribe, 
Cosa, the ancestor of Mohammed, induced him, while 
in a drunken fit, to surrender to him the keys of the 
temple, and with it the government of the city. Tra- 
dition says, that the price paid for these advantages 
was a bottle of wine. 

Abu Gabshani s vain repentance became afterwards 
proverbial, and the phrase, " More vexed with late re- 
pentance than Abu Gabsham," is still used by the 
Arabs, to denote the feelings of one, who, to use Dr. 
Franklins proverb, has given too much for his whistle. 

The former possessor was not disposed quietly to 
acquiesce in the right of Cosa, and accordingly attempted, 
by the aid of his own tribe, to reinstate himself in his 
former dignity. The Cozaites fully entered into his 
feelings, and promised him ample support ; but Cosa 
hearing of this, sent privately to the Koraishites, who 
were dispersed abroad among the neighbouring tribes, 
to come to his assistance. Obedient to this summons, 
they repaired in a body to Mecca, where, under the 
command of Cosa, they not only made him the gover- 
nor, but themselves the possessors of the city ; they 
expelled the Cozaites, and kept both the town and 
temple to themselves. 

The eldest son of Cosa has already been named, 
Abd Menaph ; his second son was called Abd Uzza ; 
and from him descended Khadijah, the first wife of the 
prophet. Abdal Motalleb, his grandfather, was a prince 
of no mean talent, for he successfully defended Mecca 
against Chosroes, king of Persia, and Abraham, king 
of ^Ethiopia. 



BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED. 319 

The attempt of the latter gave rise to that era called 
the era of the elephant, and involves many curious 
particulars. To the south of Mecca, there was a tribe, 
or ratjier nation, of Arabs, called the Homerites, who 
had long been Christians, but during the reign of Abdal 
Motalleb, at Mecca, a prince named Du Nawas suc- 
ceeded to the throne of the Homerites ; he became a 
convert to Judaism, and very fiercely persecuted the 
Christians. Among other modes of death, he caused 
a furnace to be made in the earth, in which he cast all 
Christians who would not like himself embrace the 
religion of the Talmud. 

A story is related, that to this furnace a Christian 
woman was brought, with her infant in her arms, to be 
burnt, and shrinking back when she saw the fire, the 
child cried out, " Fear not, mother, to die for your reli- 
gion ; for after this fire you shall never feel any other/' 
The woman immediately was so strengthened, that she 
went on and perished in the furnace. The Christians 
made an application to the king of Ethiopia, or rather 
Abyssinia, who was a Christian, and who, sending his 
uncle Aryat, with an army of seventy thousand men, 
overthrew the government of the Homerites, and made 
Aryat king. Du Nawas, with his troops, were literally 
driven into the sea, where they perished. 

After a reign of twenty years, Aryat was succeeded 
by Abraham Al Ashram, who built at Sanaa so large 
and magnificent a church, that many of the Arabs 
resorted to it, though a place of Christian worship, 
rather than to the Caaba at Mecca. 

A circumstance like this could not but be highly 
offensive to the inhabitants of Mecca, and the more so, 
since that city was almost entirely supported by the 
influx of strangers and pilgrims. To express their 
indignation, several Arabs from Mecca went to Sanaa, 
and getting privately into the church, so disgracefully 



320 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



defiled it, that the king, indignant at what had "been 
done, vowed, in return, to destroy the Caaba. To 
effect this purpose, he marched with a large army into 
the territories of Mecca, but not being able in that 
desert region to procure subsistence for his troops, he 
retired, without having accomplished his object. 

This failure was subsequently attributed to Divine 
interference ; and though the chapter of the Koran in 
which it is related did not probably come out till the 
edition of Othmar, yet it is to this day looked upon as 
a special providence, to save the Caaba, which was des- 
tined to be so holy. This event occurred in the year 
in which Mohammed was born ; and because the city 
was so wonderfully saved, the Arabs used that period as 
an era, and called it the era of the elephant, on account 
of the elephants in the army of Abraham. Abdal 
Motalleb was one hundred and ten years old at his death; 
his eldest son Abdallah died before him, or Mohammed 
would have succeeded regularly to the supreme power, 
but his father dying before his grandfather, and the 
rules of succession requiring a son rather than a grand- 
son to reign, Mohammed was not only deprived of 
sovereignty, but was likewise poor in his own circum- 
stances*. 

Abdallah, supposing that the succession would of 
course be his, appears never to have applied himself to 
commerce, so that when he died, which was during the 
infancy of Mohammed, five camels, and one female 
slave, comprised the whole of the property which he 
left for the support of his widow and infant son. 

* Sale contradicts this, and says, that Abu Taleb was the 
eldest son, and Abdallah the eleventh. This is certainly more 
probable than Prideaux's account, which is given in the text. 
Boulanvilliers, in his Life of Mohammed, says that he was the 
youngest son of Adal Motalleb, or Abdal Motalleb. It is 
quite certain that no one disputed the succession of Abu 
Taleb. 



BIRTH AMD EDUCATION OF MOHAMMED. 321 

Till the eighth year of his age, Mohammed was edu- 
cated by his mother, if that can be called education, in 
which no species of instruction is included. At her 
death, which then happened, he was taken by his 
grandfather, and when, at the end of another year, 
Abdal Motalleb also died, he left the young Mohammed, 
with particular recommendations, to the care of Abu 
Taleb, who, though not the eldest of his sons, yet seems 
to have, by common consent, succeeded him. 

It was, perhaps, fortunate for Mohammed, that Abu 
Taleb was not only a prince, but a merchant also, for 
being thus associated with his uncle in commerce, he 
had an opportunity of seeing foreign nations, an advan- 
tage which his penetrating genius enabled him pro- 
perly to appreciate. His remarks on the institutions 
of other lands, were eminently useful to him, in re- 
modelling those of his own ; and the knowledge which 
he acquired of human nature, while engaged in traffic, 
as a merchant, w r as not forgotten wdien he became a 
potentate, and a conqueror. 

But though thus taken up by Abu Taleb, he does not 
appear to have reaped any other advantage than those 
just mentioned, for we find him in the twenty-fifth year 
of his age, entering the service of an opulent widow, 
at Mecca, and carrying on for her the mercantile con- 
cerns of her late husband. After three years of faithful 
and successful service, this lady, whose name w r as 
Khadijah, raised the future prophet to an equality with 
the greatest men at Mecca, by giving him her hand in 
marriage, and making him the master of her person 
and estate. This occurred when she was forty, and he 
twenty-eight years of age. 



Y 



322 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE POLITICAL DESIGNS AND PRE TENDED MISSION 
OF MOHAMMED. 

From the time of Mohammed's marriage with Kha- 
dijah, his history becomes nearly a blank for fifteen 
years: it is, however, probable that his active and 
aspiring mind contemplated raising himself to the 
same eminence as that possessed by his grandfather; 
when, however, the first idea of establishing a new 
religion first occurred to him, is a question of great 
obscurity. He had seen the Roman empire shaken to 
its very foundations, the Persian monarchy split with 
intestine divisions; and while a daring adventurer 
could scarcely have chosen a more opportune moment 
for establishing a new empire, the state of religion 
offered but too many inducements to the formation of 
a new system. Paganism was but feebly supported by 
those who still pretended to countenance it; Chris- 
tianity was in a very corrupted state, at least in Arabia; 
and the Jews were, as now, derided and despised by 
all. A religion which avoided the grosser absurdities 
of paganism, while at the same time it required not 
the spiritual devotion of Christianity, could not fail of 
being received with toleration; and if it flattered the 
prejudices of all parties, and admitted the Jews on easy 
terms, it was still more likely to meet with a favourable 
reception. 

Considerations of this nature seem to have weighed 
much with Mohammed in modelling his design of 
sovereignty, and the peculiar circumstances of his 
countrymen forwarded greatly the execution of his 
design. Their commercial habits had enlarged their 
knowledge, and given many of them an opportunity of 



DESIGNS AND MISSION OF MOHAMMED. 323 



looking beyond the pale of their own land. This act- 
ing upon their acute comprehensions made them look 
with indifference upon the barbarous idolatry in which 
they had been brought up, and at the same time gave 
them but little preference for the corrupted worship 
around them. The Christians, on the other hand, 
disunited and degenerate, were already prepared to 
embrace any doctrines which might be grafted upon 
their own religion, as on a stock; while from the Jews 
no opposition could be expected to a scheme which, in 
many respects, fell in with their own ideas, and which 
gave them equality with the proudest of their op- 
pressors. 

Considerations of this nature appear to have deter- 
mined Mohammed to make a new religion the stepping- 
stone to power and conquest; nor was it without a 
just reliance on his skill and talent that he ventured to 
make the attempt. Aware how much would be lost 
by a too hasty declaration of his intentions, he took on 
himself the character of an ascetic, retired much from 
among men, and spent no inconsiderable portion of his 
time in a cavern near Mecca, called the cave of Hira. 
Here, where he was supposed to spend all his time in 
prayer and fasting, he, in fact, with able assistance, 
formed the plan of his extensive imposture. The chief 
person who is charged with this aid was Abdiah Ben 
Salon, a Persian Jew, who, becoming a favourite with 
Mohammed, and being much spoken of by Arabic 
writers, is generally called Abdallah Ebn Salem. He 
was a man of great learning, and particularly versed in 
the Talmud and the cabalistic studies so patronized by 
the Jews of that age. From him it was that so many 
passages, either borrowed or imitated from works 
of this description, were obtained, and foisted into the 
Koran; and from his assistance was it that that re- 
markable book took that general tone of cabalistic 

Y 2 



324 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



learning and rabbinical casuistry that so much distin - 
guishes it. 

Another of the assistants of Mohammed in the 
Koran was a Nestorian monk, named Sergius, and 
called in Arabic, Bahira. He communicated all those 
parts which treat of the Christian religion, and of these 
there are not a few. His talents, however, which were 
of a high order, w T ere but indifferently recompensed. 
Mohammed first became acquainted with this man on 
one of his commercial visits to Syria, and, deriving 
from his knowledge much assistance in acquiring a 
competent acquaintance with the Christian religion, he 
soon contracted an intimate friendship with him. For 
some crime not now known, Sergius was expelled from 
the monastery of which he had been a member, and he 
now, knowing Mohammed to be a rich man, and 
perhaps suspecting somewhat of his design, took refuge 
with him. Being introduced to the friends and con- 
fidants of the impostor, he palmed upon them a minor 
species of imposture himself, declaring that the expul- 
sion from his monastery was a distinguished honour 
conferred upon him, and compared himself to a camel 
which, having been a certain period in service, is 
allowed to go free, and to feed wherever he pleases; 
such a camel is called Bahira, and in token of its free- 
dom it has its ears slit. Sergius took from this cir- 
cumstance his name Bahira, and is called by that name 
in all Arabic works. 

No sooner was the Koran finished, than Mohammed 
felt Sergius to be a burden to him, a useless depository 
of an important secret, and accordingly, in the true 
style of an Eastern despot, he put him to death. 
Besides these, it does not appear that he had any other 
assistants, and these were quite sufficient to write a 
book so entirely an imitation as the Koran. 

While thus employed in forgery and meditation in 



DESIGNS AND MISSION OF MOHAMMED. 325 

the cave, he was careful not to lose any opportunity of 
facilitating his views out of it. Every night he came 
home with some monstrous tale of visions, and voices 
in his retirement. To all these Khadijah turned a 
deaf ear, treating them as the offspring of a distempered 
imagination. But Mohammed continued the same 
course, taking care also that his conduct should be 
scrupulously correct, his charities very extensive, and 
his devotions remarkably ardent. He knew that by 
first securing his own family he should obtain in Kha- 
dijah an admirable coadjutrix among the Arab women, 
many of whom possessed wealth, power, and influence. 
In the design of converting his wife he was much 
assisted by Sergius, who was then residing in their 
house ; and at last, after relating many conversations 
with the angel Gabriel, she declared herself a convert. 
His servant, Zayd, or Seyd Ebn Hareth, soon joined 
the new creed, being, it is suspected, as much moved 
thereto by the offer of freedom as by any other con- 
sideration. The promise was faithfully performed, and 
from that time it has been customary with Moham- 
medans to liberate their slaves when they embrace the 
faith of Islam. A more important convert was Ali, 
the son of Abu Taleb, his uncle, a youth but thirteen 
years of age, but of a keen, ardent, and enterprizing 
spirit. He, looking with some contempt on the other 
two, called himself the first of believers. 

After spending two years in the silent conversion of 
these three persons, and in acquiring a reputation for 
sanctity, he at length, in the fortieth year of his age, 
boldly announced himself as the prophet sent from 
God, gave himself the title of apostle, and began to 
propound those doctrines which he had been so long 
considering. The first great doctrine of his religion, 
viz., that there is but one God, was one well calculated 
to attract the Jews and Christians, particularly as he 



326 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



fully allowed the divine authority both of Moses and 
of Christ. To the Arabs he declared, which was in 
fact the truth, that their ancient religion consisted in 
the worship of the one Supreme Being, and that there- 
fore they could only look on him as a restorer of their 
primitive creed. He reminded the Jews and the Arabs 
of their common descent from Abraham, — the one 
through Isaac, the other through Ishmael, — and thus 
he conciliated the former. By inveighing against 
idolatry, he gratified the Christians; while he con- 
ciliated the good will of all, by declaring that his only 
aim was to restore the universal religion, which, through 
the wickedness of men, was lost, and to purge away 
the corruptions which the devices of men had intro- 
duced. 

He allowed both the Old and New Testament, de- 
claring that God had sent four prophets, viz., Noah, 
Moses, Jesus, and himself; and that the three former 
having failed to convert the world, he was, by the 
divine appointment, sent to finish that which the wick- 
edness of men had prevented the others from accom- 
plishing; he therefore commenced the publication of 
the Koran. 

This extraordinary work, which was not put forth to 
the world at once, but piece by piece, as the circum- 
stances of the author rendered it necessary, is in every 
respect a wonderful book. It has, it is true, been much 
overrated by the followers of its composer, and has but 
slender claims to the merit of invention and judicious 
arrangement; still, after making all due allowances on 
this score, enough remains of beauty and sublimity to 
excite our wonder, and to call forth our admiration. 
After what we know of its origin, we have no longer any 
veneration for its miraculous composition; a theme 
much dilated upon by Mohammedan doctors. Its 
history is too clearly investigated to admit of doubt. 



DESIGNS AND MISSION OF MOHAMMED. 



327 



and it would require a faith ample enough to credit 
the contents, to enable any one to believe the Moham- 
medan account of its authorship. Mohammed declared 
that it was given to him by the angel Gabriel, and, as 
so given, claimed for it all the merit of a divine reve- 
lation. Limiting himself at first, as he wisely did, to 
the declaration of his own prophetic character, and to 
something like a reasonable account of the creation, 
and the ultimate destiny of mankind, his publication 
contained nothing to disgust, and much to attract his 
followers. He was subject to attacks of catalepsy, 
which he called trances, and declared that during them 
his soul departed from his body, and held conferences 
with the angel Gabriel. It was at such times that he 
pretended to have received various parts of his Koran; 
and as he promised believers prosperity in this life and 
everlasting happiness according to their own taste in 
the next, on the moderate condition of believing impli- 
citly in him, he was well calculated to be the head of 
a predatory, ambitious, and voluptuous nation. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE SUCCESS OF MOHAMMED, AND HIS REIGN. 

In spite of the many circumstances which favoured his 
design, Mohammed was at first very ill received by his 
countrymen. His mission was treated, for the most part, 
with contempt, and his preaching with ridicule. His per- 
severance was, however, dauntless ; and accordingly, in 
the fifth year of his pretended apostleship, we find him 
with thirty-nine disciples. Among these, were many 
persons of wealth and influence ; and his own family, 
though they continued attached to the paganism in 



328 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



which they had been brought up, were yet far from 
withdrawing their support and countenance. A notable 
proof of this was soon given by Abu Taleb ; for when 
a party at Mecca, seeing the designs which Mohammed 
had in view, and the talent he displayed in furthering 
them, conspired to put him to death, on the first pub- 
lication of the Koran, Abu Taleb not only prevented 
the design from being put into execution, but declared 
that he would stand by, and protect his nephew against 
any opposition. Yet, in spite of this most powerful 
aid, his scheme advanced but slowly, and one of the 
most frequent objections made was, that he performed 
no miracles. Their demands are given in the Koran, 
thus : " For Moses and Jesus, and the rest of the pro- 
phets, worked miracles to prove their mission from 
God ; and therefore, if thou be a prophet, and greater 
than any that were sent before thee, as thou boastest 
tlryself to be, do thou work the like miracles, to mani- 
fest it unto us ; Do thou make the dead to rise, the 
dumb to speak, and the deaf to hear ; or else, do thou 
cause fountains to spring out of the earth, and make 
this place a garden, adorned with vines and palm-trees, 
and watered with rivers running through it in divers 
channels : or else let us see some of those punishments 
come clown from heaven which thou threatenest us 
with ; Or do thou make thee a house of gold, adorned 
with jewels and costly furniture, or let us see the book 
which thou wouldest have us to believe to come from 
heaven, descend down to us from thence legible in our 
eyes ; or the angel which thou tellest us doth bring it 
thee, and then we will believe in thy word." 

This objection, so often urged, was attempted to be 
answered thus : First, that Mohammed was but a man, 
sent to declare to them the joys of paradise, and the 
torments of hell ; secondly, that their ancestors had 
despised the miracles of Moses and Jesus, and that 



REIGN OF MOHAMMED. 



329 



hence, God did not intend to send them another pro- 
phet to work miracles ; and thirdly, that those who 
were ordained to believe, would do so without miracles, 
and that those who were not so ordained, would dis- 
believe in spite of them. 

But these replies, however ingenious, did not satisfy 
his followers ; they seemed to imply, that Mohammed 
had not the same power as those who had gone before 
him, and therefore, so far from being superior, he was, 
in fact, less distinguished. 

It was not until circumstances had placed the sword 
of conquest in his hand, that he ventured to cut the 
Gordian knot, which no sophistry could have enabled 
him to untie ; the answer which he then made to these 
objectors, will be related in its proper place. 

From the time of these thirty-nine disciples having 
openly joined him, his party began to grow formidable, 
so much so, that in three years, the government of 
Mecca passed a decree, forbidding any persons to attach 
themselves to the new prophet. This, however, like 
most similar measures, was of but little use ; and, 
indeed, by the active support of Abu Taleb, Mohammed 
gained, rather than lost, by the decree. Hitherto, 
though advancing but slowly, the sect had met with no 
effectual opposition ; it was reserved for persecution to 
do that for Mohammed, which it has never failed to do 
for Christianity. 

In the course of two years, Abu Taleb died, and the 
government of the city passed into the hands of Abu 
Sophian, the most determined opponent that the im- 
postor had hitherto encountered. The party of Moham- 
med was soon suppressed at Mecca, and the leader, 
finding no hopes remain of successfully prosecuting his 
scheme in that city, began to look around for some 
other place, from which he might organize his opera- 
tions. 



330 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



He had before often declared that his religion was 
to be propagated by the sword, and now it seemed in 
danger of perishing by the sword. But Abbas, his 
uncle, who had become a believer, invited him to Tayif, a 
small town about sixty miles east of Mecca, and thither, 
with the hopes of obtaining many followers, he went. 
After a month's residence there, he returned to Mecca, 
without having made a single proselyte ; and with the 
bitter reflection that he had wasted his time, and 
lowered his reputation at so critical a juncture. He 
embraced, however, every opportunity of strength- 
ening himself, and for that purpose, Khadijah being 
now dead, he married the daughters of three of the 
principal people at Mecca; these were, Ayesha, the 
daughter of Abu Beker, Jewda, the daughter of Zama, 
and Haphsa, the daughter of Omar ; and these men, 
Abu Beker, Zama, and Omar, immediately espoused 
the cause, and embraced the religion of their son-in- 
law. Ayesha was then but six years old. 

Two years after these alliances, he announced to his 
people that extravagant fiction, the Mesra, or Night 
Journey to Heaven; and this, which at first seemed 
the most unfortunate action of his life, soon proved to 
be the most fortunate. He seems to have intended it 
to answer a twofold purpose. It was a reply to those 
who asked for a miracle, and it acted also as a touch- 
stone of faith — a test whereby to ascertain the calibre 
of that credulity which existed among his party ; cer- 
tainly those who could believe so wild a tale as this, 
must have had an intellectual digestion of a very strong 
order. 

The immediate effects of this absurd fable, were 
such as might be expected; many of his followers left 
him, and more would have followed their example, had 
not Abu Beker come forward, and vouched for the 
truth of the whole. For this act of unquestioning 



REIGN OF MOHAMMED. 



331 



faith, he received the title of Assadick, or the Just, 
but his attestation, though very valuable, did not seem 
sufficient, for we afterwards find God himself, as swear- 
ing by the stars, that the whole of what Mohammed 
had related was true. 

Another, and more important use to w r hich Moham- 
med put this night journey, was, that having once pre- 
tended so near an access to the Divine Being, and so 
close a communion with him, there would be no diffi- 
culty in future, to assert, when necessary, that his 
projects, however newly conceived, were especially 
commanded by God at that time ; in short, to claim 
inspiration for whatever he chose to assert. 

The defection of so many among his followers, 
though painful in its immediate consequences, led to 
that resolution which eventually placed Mohammed on 
a throne. Finding that the absurdity of this new re- 
velation had not only alienated the minds of many who 
had espoused his cause, but had also added vigour to 
the resentment of his already numerous enemies; he 
anxiously wished for an opportunity to change his resi- 
dence and his plan of operations at once. An oppor- 
tunity soon offered. 

About two hundred and seventy miles from Mecca 
was a city called Yathreb; now better known by the name 
of Medina. This place, inhabited by a turbulent and 
distracted set, part Jews, and part nominally Christians, 
seems to have been peculiarly unsettled at this time ; 
there were two parties, who not agreeing, were inclined 
to choose some common arbitrater. One party having 
heard of the new prophet, whose religion was now making 
so great a commotion, sent a deputation to Mohammed, 
who swore fealty to him, and invited him to come and 
take up his abode among them. He chose twelve out 
of the number, and sent them to be his apostles, and 
these having succeeded in proselyting a large portion 



332 



MOII AM M EDA N ISM . 



of the inhabitants, Mohammed finally joined them, 
and was received as their chief. 

This event, which occurred on the 24th of Septem- 
ber, was not unattended with danger, for the chief 
men of Mecca, when they found that the party of 
Mohammed could not be altogether suppressed, deter- 
mined to crush it. and him together. He discovered 
this plot, and hastened his departure ; sending first all 
his disciples ; then when they were all gone, following 
with Abu Beker, and leaving Ali behind, to arrange 
what remained for them to do. 

It would seem that those friends in Medina who so 
well received him were Christians ; for, from this time 
forward, Mohammed expressed a violent hatred against 
the Jews, and expresses the favourable sentiments 
which he felt towards the Christians, thus : " Thou 
shalt find the Jews to be very great enemies to the 
true believers, and the Christians to have great inclina- 
tion and amity towards them. For they have priests 
and religious that are humble ; that have eyes full of 
tears when they hear mention of the doctrine that God 
hath inspired into thee, because of their knowledge of 
the truth ; and say, c Lord, we believe in thy law, write 
us in the number of them who profess thy unity. Who 
shall hinder us from believing in God, and the truth 
wherein we have been instructed. We desire with 
passion, O Lord, to be in the number of the just.'" 
Indeed, from the very nature of that dispensation, of 
which Mohammed announced himself as the chief, we 
may see every reason why he should have preferred 
the Christians ; they acknowledged Christ, whom the 
Jews rejected. Llence, in declaring the divine authority 
of Jesus, he tacitly reproved the Jews for their 
unbelief. 

The flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina, 
gave rise to that era by which his followers reckon at 



REIGN OF MOHAMMED. 



333 



this day; it is called the Hegira, or "the Flight/* 
The institution of this era is said to have been occa- 
sioned by a dispute between two merchants, one of 
whom declared that a debt was due on a particular 
day in the preceding year, while the other declared 
that it would not be due till the corresponding day 
next ensuing. This dispute was brought before the 
celebrated Caliph Omar, who decreed, that in order to 
prevent such disputes in future, merchants should date 
their bills with the year as well as the day, and should 
reckon from the flight of the prophet, which may, in 
fact, be called dating from the first year of his reign. 



CHAPTER IY. 

OF THE CONQUESTS AND DEATH OF MOHAMMED. 

Mohammed being now at the head of a small but 
independent state, began to exemplify those maxims 
of military government which he had before only 
preached. It is said that he built his first mosque at 
Medina, by dispossessing some poor orphans of their 
inheritance ; but this tale seems to have been taken up 
rather hastily by Prideaux. He now openly professed 
that he did not possess the power of working miracles; 
he was sent, he observed, with the power of the sword, 
not so much to induce as to compel men to believe; 
and accordingly he brought forward in quick succession 
all those chapters of the Koran in which he particularly 
insists on this tenet, and holds out such inducements 
as few Arab warriors would be able to resist. He 
gave them permission to marry four wives, with the 
liberty of divorce whenever they pleased : he gave them 
the persons of all their female captives; and, at the 



334 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



same time, that his dispensation might not appear a 
dispensation of mere licence, he strictly forbade wine 
to his followers. This prohibition he well knew would 
be received with but little discontent; but the per- 
mission which we have just noticed would be of all 
others the most captivating to his disciples. 

We shall now have to contemplate Mohammed as 
the sovereign of an empire, small indeed at first, 
but every day increasing; as the commander of an 
army, almost universally successful. His first step in 
this capacity was to denounce the punishment of death 
against all those who even doubted the truth of his 
mission, and strictly to prohibit the discussion of points 
of faith at all. This was an energetic measure, and, 
like most energetic measures, successful; and accord- 
ingly now that his disciples were fully informed that 
their duty was, not to dispute but to fight for their 
religion, we have a succession of the most brilliant 
military achievements till the death of the impostor. 

These are for the most part matters only of history, and 
no otherwise concern the system of w T hich he was 
the author, than as they paved the way for its success. 
One of them, trifling in itself, was made very useful 
by its consequences. At Beder he, with three hundred 
men, attacked Abu Sophian with a thousand: he was 
successful in his object, which was to plunder the 
caravan which Abu Sophian conducted; but having 
done so in spite of Abu Sophian's superior force, he 
said that he had been assisted by troops of angels, three 
thousand in number, invisible to every eye but his 
own: he also said that God caused his enemies to 
see double, whereby they supposed his army to have 
been twice its real strength. 

During the same year he altered the Kebla, (the 
place towards which believers looked when praying.) 
At first Jerusalem had been the chosen city, and this 



CONQUESTS AND DEATH OF MOHAMMED. 335 

was also the place to which he directed pilgrimages to 
be made ; hut when he found the Arabs equally favour- 
able to Mecca, and averse to Jerusalem, he altered the 
sacred spot accordingly. This was not done without 
offence: many forsook a religion which seemed so given 
to change, and the faith of others, though they still 
remained, was weakened. His chief reason, however, 
seems to have been to conciliate the people of Mecca, 
who were still unfavourable generally to his cause. 
Another circumstance which may have weighed a little 
with him Avas, the hatred which he seems to have con- 
tracted against the Jews, partly because they embar- 
rassed him with questions about religion in general, 
and his own mission in particular, which he felt un- 
willing to answer, and partly because they had not been 
willing to acknowledge him when he went from Mecca 
to Medina. This also determined him to alter the 
great fast from the tenth day of the first month, where 
he at first fixed it, and which corresponded with the 
great fast of the Expiation, held on the tenth of Tisri, 
to the month Ramadan, which, in imitation of the 
Christian Lent, he made a month of fasting. The year 
in w r hich this occurred, Lent and the fast of Ramadan 
coincided; but the reason given for the change was, 
that Ramadan was the month in which the Koran, that 
is, the first published chapter, came down from heaven. 

Shortly after this, Abu Sophian, to avenge the affront 
which he had suffered the year before at Beder, 
marched against Medina with an army of three thou- 
sand infantry and two hundred cavalry; and though 
Mohammed was not driven from Medina, yet, having 
only one thousand men, he was not so fortunate as 
to escape injury both to his person and cause: he 
would, indeed, have been killed in the action, had 
not Telha, the nephew of Abu Beker, come to his 
aid and rescued him. The cause of the impostor 



336 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



suffered still more than his person, for his people 
began to inquire how it could be that a prophet 
sent of God was overthrown by infidels. This he 
answered by saying that the misfortune happened 
through the sins of some who followed him, and did 
not fail to instance the case of Achan, as related in our 
Scriptures ; but he never investigated the affair so as to 
bring the supposed offender to condign punishment; on 
the contrary, he preached the doctrine of fatalism, for 
which the believers in his system have ever been noto- 
rious. He asserted that the space of every man's life 
being marked out by the Divine providence, those who 
were predestinated to die, would die, wherever they 
were ; that had they not gone out to battle, their houses 
■would have fallen and crushed them; but that as they 
perished fighting for the true faith, everlasting felicity 
would be their portion. Thus he quieted the fears of 
those who deemed success the only token of Divine 
approbation, and at the same time calmed the sorrow 
of those who lost their friends and relatives in the 
battle; and though many fell away from his standard, 
yet in this case, as in most others, the ultimate conse- 
quence of his sophistry overcame the prejudicial in- 
fluence of that circumstance which called it forth. 

After this circumstance the arms of Mohammed were 
generally prosperous. One tribe after another of the 
Pagan and Jewish Arabs submitted to his sceptre, and 
it was in the midst of these successes that he forbade 
wine to his people, and commanded the pilgrimage to 
Mecca. In consequence of a battle fought near Mecca, 
in which, however, neither party obtained a victory, a 
truce was agreed upon between Mohammed and the 
government of his native city. It was resolved that 
Mecca should be open to the prophet and his followers, 
and that any of the inhabitants of Mecca might, if they 
pleased, join themselves to him, having first obtained 
the consent of the governor. 



CONQUESTS AND DEATH OF MOHAMMED. 337 

Now it was that Mohammed, having long enjoyed 
the power and authority of a sovereign, took upon him- 
self the title of king, and was crowned under a tree 
near Medina. It is probably true, because acknow- 
ledged by Mohammedan writers, that the tree imme- 
diately withered away and perished: they, however, de- 
clare that the tree was typical of the prophet's enemies. 
During all this time he had been accustomed to be the 
leader of their devotions, and their preacher; nor did 
he relinquish this practice when he became so powerful 
a monarch. In his mosque, at Medina, he had used a 
beam to lean upon when preaching and praying, and 
now that sumptuous edifice was completed, and the 
dignity of the officiating minister required some further 
support, a pulpit was erected, which he afterwards 
used. The beam which he had before used appeared 
deeply affected by his desertion of it, and accordingly 
groaned bitterly over its departed glory. 

His career was now drawing to a close. Among the 
cities marked for conquest and plunder was Chaibar, 
a place inhabited by Jewish Arabs, which, after a short 
but vigorous resistance, he reduced, and took up his 
quarters in the house of a man of consequence, named 
Hareth, whose daughter, Zainah, resolved to put the 
inspiration of the prophet to a severe test. She accord- 
ingly poisoned a shoulder of mutton, which she set 
before the party at table. And now we are told that 
this plot was defeated by the joint speaking to Moham- 
med, and telling him what had been done. The mut- 
ton, however, delayed the information till the prophet 
had eaten a portion, which, though it did not cause 
immediate death, (which was the fate of Basher, his 
friend, who did not, it seems, hear the observation 
made by the shoulder of mutton,) did yet exert so 
violent an effect on his constitution, that he was never 
in health again, and died from the effects of it in three 

z 



338 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



years. This period was not passed in inactivity. City 
after city was taken, till at length, falling suddenly on 
Mecca, he compelled Ahu Sophian to embrace his 
religion, put to death all those who had violently op- 
posed him, and made himself master of the place. 

He now set to work to purge the Caaba of its idols, 
and converted it into a mosque for his disciples. 
"When arrived at this power, it seemed necessary that 
the independent part of Arabia should either rise in a 
body, and destroy the usurper, or else quietly submit 
to his government. They chose the former, and were 
entirely defeated; so that, from being sovereign of 
Mecca and Medina, he became the ruler of all Arabia. 
He still continued to reside at the last named city, 
occasionally passing to Mecca; but in the eleventh 
year of his reign and of the Hegira, he began to decline 
perceptibly from the effects of the poison which he had 
taken at Chaibar, till on the twelfth day of the third 
month, a. D. 632, he expired, after a sickness of thir- 
teen days. His death was followed by vehement dis- 
putes among his followers ; first, as to whether he was 
really liable to death; and next, when that point was 
settled, where he should be buried. These disputes 
were finally adjusted by the wisdom and presence of 
mind of Abu Beker. Mohammed died in the sixty- 
third year of his age, and, according to his own 
account, in the twenty-third of his apostleship. But 
as the character of this extraordinary man will be 
best appreciated from a view of the Koran, we shall 
defer noticing it till we have briefly reviewed that 
work, and observed the effect which his imposture had 
on the condition, civil, moral, and political, of his 
countrymen. 



339 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE ARABIAN RELIGION BEFORE MOHAMMED. 

The greater number of the Arabs, when Mohammed 
first made public his pretended mission, were pagans. 
The worship common among them, was a corrupted 
form of Sabianism, which, when pure, was the most 
rational form of religion made by the uninspired mind 
of man. It consisted in the worship of one supreme 
God, to whose ministers, the planets and the angels, 
an inferior degree of worship was paid. These were 
supposed placed in their several stations of government 
by God himself, and ruled, under him, the world, and 
the elements. A more beautiful illustration of this 
creed could hardly be given, than that splendid passage 
in Atherstone's Fall of Nineveh^ in which Belesis, the 
royal priest, addresses the stars : — 

Look down upon us from your spheres of light, 

Bright ministers of the Invisible ! 

Before whose dread supremacy, weak man 

Dare not appear ; for what are we, earthworms, 

That the All-Holy One to us should stoop, 

From the pure sanctuary where he dwells, 

Throned in eternal light. But ye his face 

Behold, and in his presence stand, and hear 

His voice divine, and his commands obey ; 

Vicegerents of the sky, upon your priest, 

Look down, and hear his prayer; and you, the chief 

Bright mediators between God and man, 

"Who in your burning chariots path the heavens 

In ceaseless round, Saturn and mighty Sol, 

Though absent now, beyond the ends of earth, 

Yet hearing human prayer. — Great Jupiter — 

Venus — and Mars — and Mercury — ! hear, 

Interpreters divine ; and for your priest 

Draw the dark veil that shades the days to come. 

Fall of Nineveh, Book I. 

z 2 



340 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



In a note upon this passage, Mr. A. makes the fol- 
lowing extract from the Universal History, vol. iv. p. 
238. " The religion and hoasted learning of the Chal- 
daeans are so blended together, that we hardly know 
how to separate them into distinct heads. For the 
Chaldees, properly so called, were not only their priests, 
hut their learned men ; whose whole science seems to 
have been subservient to the purposes of superstition 
and infatuation. The Chaldseans, as distinguished 
from the Babylonians, were in some sort distinct from 
those people, and rather more so than the clergy from 
the laity with us. These Chaldasans were as much 
revered in their country, as the Egyptian priests were 
in theirs ; and are said to have enjoyed the same 
rank and degree in the kingdom. They were wholly 
devoted to the business of their superstitious religion, 
and pretended to prophecy, and the gift of prediction, 
by the rules of augury, the flight of birds, and the in- 
spection of victims ; they professed the interpretation 
of dreams, and to explain all the extraordinary acci- 
dents and phenomena of nature, as portending good or 
evil, to men or nations ; and were thought, by their 
enchantments and invocations, to affect mankind either 
with happiness or misery. Having by their situation 
been early addicted to celestial observations, they, 
instead of conceiving, as they ought to have done, 
concerning the omnipotence of the Creator and ruler 
of the heavenly bodies, and of being confirmed in a 
due belief and practice of what had been handed down 
to men by tradition, from Noah and his sons, fell into 
the impious error of esteeming them as gods and gover- 
nors of the world, in subordination, however, to the 
Deity, who was invisible but by his works, and the 
effect of his power. They concluded, therefore, that 
God had created the stars and luminaries for the gover- 
nance of the world; that he had accordingly placed 



ARABIAN RELIGION BEFORE MOHAMMED. 341 

them on high, and made them partakers with him, and 
substituted them his ministers, and that it was but 
just and natural that they should he praised, and 
honoured, and extolled, and that it was even the will of 
God that they should he feared and magnified, and 
worshipped, just as a king desires his servants should 
be respected, in honour of himself. Persuaded of this, 
they began to build temples, or sacella, to the stars, to 
sacrifice to them, to praise them, and to bow down 
before them, that through their means they might 
obtain the favour and good will of God, so that they 
esteemed them as mediators between God and them. 
For that there was a necessity of a mediatory office 
between God and man, is observed to have been a 
notion that generally obtained among mankind from 
the beginning. Conscious of their own meanness, vile- 
ness, and impurity, and unable to conceive how it was 
possible of them for themselves alone to have any 
access to the all-holy, all-glorious and supreme Governor 
of all things, they considered him as too high and too 
pure, and themselves too low and too polluted, for 
such an intercourse, and therefore concluded there 
must be a mediator, by whose means only they could 
make addresses to him, and by whose intercession 
alone their petitions could be accepted of. But na 
clear revelation being then made of the Mediator 
whom God had appointed, because he had not yet been' 
manifested to the world, they took upon themselves to- 
address him through mediators of their own choosing ;. 
and their notion of the sun, moon, and stars, being 
that they were the habitation or tabernacle of intelli- 
gences which animated those orbs, in the same manner 
that the soul of man animates his body, and were the 
causes of all their motions, and that those intelligences 
w r ere of a middle nature, between God and them ; they 
thought these the properest beings to become the 



342 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



mediators between God and them ; and therefore the 
planets being the nearest to them of all the heavenly 
bodies, and generally looked on to have the greatest 
influence in this world, they made choice of them in 
the first place for their gods mediators, who were to 
mediate for them with the Supreme God, and procure 
from him the mercies and favours which they prayed 
for ; and accordingly, they directed divine worship to 
them as such, and here began all the idolatry that has 
been practised in the world." 

This passage is taken from Dean Prideaux (Con- 
nexion), and he took it from Maimonides, in whose 
words the passage will be repeated in the beginning of 
the next section. The difference is merely that Pri- 
deaux has interpolated the words of Maimonides with 
those reflections that naturally occur to a Christian, 
when treating on such a subject ; but the true impor- 
tance of the passage is, that it sets forth the great 
antiquity of this form of religion, since Maimonides 
expressly refers it to the time of Enos, the son of 
Seth. A form so pure as this could hardly be expected 
to be preserved, among an ignorant and barbarous 
people; and we find, accordingly, that the Arabs soon 
degenerated from their early faith, and became gross 
idolaters. 

There was a sect, however, among them, who, by 
means of compounding Judaism and a little Chris- 
tianity with this ancient religion, made a religion far 
better than that of Mohammed. These persons, who 
were sometimes called Christians of St. John the Bap- 
tist, fasted three times in the year, the first time thirty 
days, the second, nine, and the third, seven ; they 
offered sacrifices, like the Jews, and prayed three times 
a day. Virtue was, they deemed, the principal object 
to be sought after by man ; and they believed that the 
wicked would be punished for nine thousand ages, but 



ARABIAN RELIGION BEFORE MOHAMMED. 343 

would afterwards be received to mercy. They had the 
Psalms, and a book which they attributed to Seth, and 
used a sort of baptism. 

This sect, who were tolerated by Mohammed, were 
not very numerous, and the major part of the Arabs 
worshipped idols, and acknowledged, at the same time, 
the Supreme Being. These idols were, for the most 
part, female figures, and were thought to represent 
angels. Allah Al Uzza, and Manah, were the chief 
so honoured, but there were many more, which, though 
not worshipped so universally as these, were not left 
without followers. The Supreme Being they called 
Allah Taala, the Most High God ; whereas the others 
were simply called Ilahat, goddesses. This, as Sale 
observes, accounts for the Greek account of the Arab 
idolatry, for that people, always resolving every form of 
worship into their own, tell us that the Arabs adore 
Bacchus and Urania, calling the one Orotalt, and the 
other, Alilat. 

The other deities mentioned in the Koran are, Wada, 
Sarva, Yaguth, Yawk, and Nasr ; these are all said to 
be antediluvian idols, worshipped respectively under 
the shapes of a man, a woman, a lion, a horse, and an 
eagle. Against these idols it was, they asserted, that 
Noah preached, and for the worshipping of which, the 
deluge was sent upon mankind. 

In the Caaba, at Mecca, there were three hundred 
and sixty idols, and among them, all the patriarchs and 
prophets of the Jews ; one of them called Hobal, sup- 
posed to be the image of Abraham, was made of red 
agate, but the hand being broken off, the Koreish 
replaced it with a hand of gold. One tribe, that of 
Hanisah, worshipped a lump of dough, which, in times 
of scarcity, however, they scrupled not to eat. 

The religion of the magi was not unknown among 
the Arabs, especially among those bordering on Persia, 



344 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



and one tribe, that of Tamin, was composed entirely 
of the followers of this system; indeed Mohammed 
himself borrowed many of his institutions from the 
magi, as will be shown before we quit the subject. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE KORAN. 

It was in the twenty-third night of the month Rama- 
dan, according to his own account and the belief of his 
followers, that the angel Gabriel came down from the 
presence of God, and opening the breast of Mohammed, 
took therefrom his heart ; he then wrung out of it the 
black drop of original sin, washed it with pure water, 
and restored it to its place. This night the Koran, or, 
as it is very improperly called, the Alcoran, came from 
the highest to the lowest heaven, that it might be 
ready for revelation to the prophet, as the exigences of 
world might require. We can hardly too much admire 
the consummate skill displayed by the impostor in this 
arrangement. Had the Koran been published all at 
once, the author would have had to trust to his own 
authority for answers to all objections; circumstances 
might arise, which might have rendered part of the 
previous revelations inexpedient, and, finally, he would 
have had to wait a long time before the book appeared, 
and he obtained the celebrity which it procured him. 
As it was, all these inconveniences were provided 
against; he was able always to appeal to divine 
authority to justify any doctrine he thought proper, 
to promulge any measure which he determined to 
adopt. He made a natural infirmity, to which he was 
subject, serve the place of a miracle, he kept up the 
attention of his followers by a continuation of reve- 



THE KORAN. 



345 



lations, and he obtained immediately the glory of being 
the sole depository of God's will to man, as displayed 
in this new institution. 

The Koran thus revealed, generally by a few verses 
at a time, deserves much of the encomiums which it 
has received. Its beauties are, much sublimity while 
speaking of the Divine Being, a great deal of elegance 
in its composition generally, and a system of ethics 
and jurisprudence, much better and purer than 
Christians are generally willing to allow. Its defects 
are, a great want of arrangement and order, a bare- 
faced plagiarism of the most extravagant tales of the 
Talmud, and many absurd and minute observances 
commanded, which were copied from the traditionary 
law of the Jews. 

The Mohammedan opinion of it is, that it is of divine 
origin; that it is eternal and uncreated, and that the 
first transcript is by the throne of God, on a table of 
vast dimensions, called the preserved table. On this 
are also written the divine decrees, past, present, and 
future; and if any one object to the eternity of the 
Koran, that much of it was adapted to the circum- 
stances of Mohammed's times, and not a few passages 
to the gratification of his private wishes, it is answered, 
that these things were predestinated from all eternity. 

The revelation, or pretended revelation, of the Koran 
extended over a period of twenty-three years, during 
which time, as soon as a chapter had been collected 
from a number of separate revelations, which were 
taken down by amanuenses, it was read over to the 
followers of the prophet, till the whole was committed 
to memory; the original was then thrown without order 
into a chest, called the chest of revelation, and com- 
mitted to the care of Haphsa, one of the wives of 
Mohammed: it was, however, they say, by the direction 
of the angel Gabriel, that the arrangement of the 
verses in each chapter was made. The great table 



346 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



which stood by the throne of God, was not that which 
came down to the lowest heaven, hut a copy on 
paper, hound in silk and adorned with pearls. This 
precious volume was shown once a year to Mohammed, 
but in the last year of his life he saw it twice. 

The words first revealed are the five first verses of 
the ninety-sixth chapter, and run thus : — a Read, in the 
name of thy Lord who hath created all things, who 
hath created man of congealed blood. Read by thy 
most beneficent Lord, who taught the use of the pen, 
who teacheth man that which he knoweth not." The 
meaning of this phrase, " congealed blood," after which 
the chapter is named, refers to the tradition that all 
human beings, save Adam, Eve, and Jesus, were so 
created. The next chapter is entitled Al Kadr, and 
the whole is subjoined. " In the name of the most 
merciful God. Verily we sent down the Koran in the 
night of Al Kaclr, (the night of power.) And what 
shall make thee understand how excellent the night 
Al Kadr is ? The night Al Kadr is better than a thou- 
sand months. Therein do the angels descend, and the 
spirit Gabriel also, by the permission of their Lord, 
with his decrees concerning every matter. It is peace 
until the rising of the dawn." This night, twenty- 
third of Ramadan, is holy on another account than the 
descent of the Koran; for, as the chapter just recited 
informs us, the divine decrees for the year following 
are on this night taken from the preserved table, and 
given to the angels to be executed. The Koran, as 
we now have it, is divided into one hundred and four- 
teen chapters, called each after the first word of note 
which it contains, and because some parts were revealed 
at Mecca, and others at Medina, this circumstance 
forms a part of the title of each chapter. 

Such care has been taken to keep pure the text of 
the Koran, that the number of words and letters 
therein has been computed, — the former amounting to 



THE KORAN. 



347 



seventy-seven thousand six hundred and thirty-nine, 
and of the latter three hundred and twenty- three thou- 
sand and fifteen. They have even calculated the num- 
ber of times each particular letter occurs; in this imi- 
tating the Jews. After the title come the words called 
the Bismillah, which are, " In the name of the most 
merciful God," and then comes the chapter itself. 
There are twenty-nine chapters of the Koran which 
have this peculiarity, that they commence w r ith certain 
letters standing alone, some with a single letter, others 
with more: these are by many Mohammedan doctors 
thought to express the most profound mysteries, which 
have been fullj revealed to none save the prophet. 

"With regard to the style of this extraordinary book, 
it is generally beautiful and fluent, and though written 
in prose, yet the sentences conclude with a long-con- 
tinued rhyme, which is to this day the most popular 
ornament of Arabic composition. The book now ex- 
tant was compiled from the existing copies in the reign 
and by the order of the Caliph Othman, in the thirtieth 
of the Hegira, by four of the most learned Arabs then 
living: they reconciled the various readings, and the 
old copies were then burnt and suppressed. The Koran 
is held in the greatest possible respect among the 
Mohammedans. They never touch it without being 
first washed, or legally purified; and lest they should 
inadvertently do so, they put an inscription on it, 
" Let none touch it but those who are clean." They 
swear by it, consult it on weighty occasions, by dipping 
into it, and taking as an omen the words that first 
occur % carry it with them to war, write sentences of 

* Al Walid, the caliph, who was a person of no religion, 
dipping thus into the Koran, found the words, " Every rebel- 
lious perverse person shall not prosper;" whereupon he stuck 
the book on. a lance, and shot it to pieces with arrows, saying, 
"Dost thou rebuke every rebellious perverse person? behold 
I am a rebellious perverse person." 



348 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



it on their banners, and adorn it with gold and precious 
stones, and suffer it not knowingly to be in the hands 
of an infidel. 

The first chapter is esteemed as one of the most 
holy; and, as it very short, it is subjoined. The Arabs 
call it the quintessence of the Koran, and repeat it 
often at their devotions, whether public or private* 
" Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures, the most 
merciful, the King of the day of judgment. Thee do 
we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct 
us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou 
hast been gracious, not of those against whom thou art 
incensed, nor of those that go astray." 

The first principle of Mohammed's religion was one 
which argued a truly philosophical mind, and which 
was based upon a solid and important truth. It was 
that there was and had been but one religion given to 
the world under the various dispensations which God 
had at different times promulgated. This religion he 
called Islam, which signifies obedience to the divine 
rule, and this is the name peculiar to his own dispen- 
sation. They divide Islam into two parts, viz., faith 
and practice; the one referring to a correct belief in 
the six tenets, viz., the being of a God, — of his angels, 
— of his scriptures, — of his prophets, — in the resurrec- 
tion and day of judgment, — and in predestination: 
this faith is called Iman, and the practice Den ; this 
has respect to prayer, alms, fasting, and the pilgrimage 
to Mecca. They believe that there were one hundred 
and four books containing the revelation of God's will, 
and given to several prophets ; that these were deli- 
vered to the patriarchs in the following manner: ten 
to Adam, fifty to Seth, thirty to Edris, or Enoch, ten 
to Abraham; and that these are all entirely lost; that 
the next three are still in existence, but too much cor- 
rupted to be useful; these are, the Pentateuch to 
Moses, the Psalms to David, and the Gospel to Jesus. 



THE KORAN. 



349 



The last revelation which is to be expected is the 
Koran, which was given to Mohammed, and the list of 
prophets is now closed. They speak of two hundred 
and twenty four thousand prophets, of whom three 
hundred and thirteen were apostles sent to recover 
mankind from their ignorance and depravity, and six, 
viz., Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Moham- 
med, were founders of new dispensations. 

The Koran insists on a firm belief in Angels, of 
whom Gabriel, the angel who gave the Koran to 
Mohammed, — Michael, the guardian of the Jews, — 
Asrace, the angel of death, — and Israfil, who, at the 
day of judgment, will sound the trumpet, are the chief: 
it also speaks of Devils, whose chief is Eblis, and of 
Genii, or Gins ; these beings, who are somewhat between 
men and angels, are in a state of probation like men, 
and therefore Mohammed claimed to be sent for their 
conversion, as well as that of the human race. These 
spirits are supposed to have inhabited the world many 
ages before the creation of Adam, and to have been 
governed by a long succession of princes, who all bore 
the name of Solomon, but at last a general profligacy 
obtained among them, and Eblis, before his fall, was 
commissioned to drive them into a remote corner of 
the earth; some who remained were made war upon 
by Tahmuras, one of the ancient monarchs of Iran, 
and these wars and successions form the subject of 
many legends among Mohammedans. 

Peris, Dives, who were gigantic beings hostile to 
man, and Tacwins, spirits like the Valkyruir of the 
Northern mythology, make a great figure in Oriental 
romance. The Gins were driven into the mountains 
of Kaf by Tahmuras. An opinion prevails among the 
disciples of Islam that every man has two guardian 
angels, who watch over him and write down all his 
actions : these, which are changed every day, are called 



350 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



Moakkibat, and they pretend that the same opinion is 
expressed in the New Testament, in those words of 
onr Lord, " for in heaven their angels do behold the 
face of my Father." In addition to these topics, the 
Koran contains the moral, civil, and ceremonial law of 
Islam, provisions for many cases of difficult determina- 
tion, and for the peculiar circumstances of the author 
and his disciples at the time of its publication. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF DEATH, THE RESURRECTION, AND THE JUDGMENT. 

When the body of a man is laid in the grave, the 
Moslem doctors say that he is received by an angel, 
who gives him notice that the two examiners, Monkir 
and Nekir, are approaching. These are angels of a 
dark and terrible appearance, who command the de- 
ceased to sit upright, and then question him concerning 
his creed. If he reply, " There is no God but God, 
and Mohammed is his prophet," they suffer the airs of 
Paradise to blow on the body, and leave it in peace ; 
but if the man hesitate or prevaricate, they beat him 
on the temples with iron maces, till he cries out loud 
enough to be heard by all beings save men and genii. 
They then press the earth on the corpse, which is 
gnawed and stung till the resurrection, by ninety-nine 
dragons having seven heads each. Some say that the 
sins of the wicked will become serpents and scorpions, 
and will come and torment them while lying in the 
grave. These, however, are subjects upon which all the 
Moslems are not agreed; some rejecting altogether the 
examination in the tomb. But in the eighth chapter of 
the Koran occur these words, which seem to refer to 



THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT. 351 



it : " And if ye did behold when the angels cause the 
unbelievers to die, they strike their faces and their 
backs, and say unto them, 6 Taste ye the pain of burn- 
ing; this shall ye suffer for what your hands have sent 
before you, and because God is not unjust to his ser- 
vants/ " Those who believe this examination, suppose 
that the souls of the wicked remain united to their 
bodies, Others distribute these and the souls of the 
righteous in various places of abode. 

The day of judgment, which, according to one pas- 
sage of the Koran, is to last one thousand years, and, 
according to another, fifty thousand years, is to be pre- 
ceded by many greater and lesser signs; but the time 
of its approach is known only to God. The lesser 
signs are, the decay of faith among men, the advance- 
ment of mean persons to dignity, great sensuality, 
tumult, and sedition, distress, famine, and rebellion. 

The greater signs will require to be more particularly 
described. The first of these is the rising of the sun 
in the west. The second, the appearance of the beast 
which rises out of the earth, but the learned are not 
agreed as to the particular spot. This monster, whose 
head alone will fill the space between earth and heaven, 
is described as composed of the parts of many beasts. 
She has the head of a bull, the eyes of a hog, the ears 
of an elephant, the horns of a stag, the neck of an 
ostrich, the breast of a lion, the colour of a tiger, the 
back of a cat, the tail of a ram, the legs of a camel, 
and the voice of an ass. This creature, which is to 
surpass all created beings in swiftness, will bring with 
her the rod of Moses, and the seal of Solomon, and, 
appearing in three several places, she will mark be- 
lievers and unbelievers in the forehead, so that they 
may at once be distinguished. One great object of her 
coming will be to demonstrate the vanity of every 
religion save Islam, and of all other languages save 
Arabic. 



352 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



The third sign will be a war between the Greeks 
and the Jews, and the taking of the city of Constan- 
tinople by seventy thousand of the latter people, who 
shall cease from dividing the spoil at the coming of 
Antichrist. This coming will be the fourth sign. He 
will be followed by seventy thousand Jews, and will con- 
tinue on earth one year, one month, one week, and thirty- 
seven days. During his continuance in the world he 
will lay waste all places but Mecca and Medina, which 
will be guarded by angels, and at last will be slain in 
battle by Jesus, who will encounter him at the gate of 
Lud. The fifth sign will be the second coming of 
Christ, who will descend at Damascus, embrace the 
Mohammedan religion, marry a wife, and have chil- 
dren. In his reign, which will last forty years, there 
will be perfect security and peace, from the time that 
Antichrist has been killed to the death of Jesus him- 
self. The sixth sign will be a war against the Jews, 
who will nearly all be exterminated. The seventh will 
be the irruption of Gog and Magog. Their armies 
will be so vast, that their bows, arrows, and quivers 
will be fuel for the faithful for seven years. Then 
comes the smoke, which shall fill the whole earth, and 
be the eighth sign of the approaching judgment. The 
ninth sign will be a wonderful eclipse of the moon; and 
the tenth the return of all the earth to idolatry. The 
eleventh, the discovery of a vast heap of gold, by the 
reflux of the Euphrates, which will be the destruction 
of many. The twelfth, the demolition of the Caaba, 
or temple of Mecca, by the Ethiopians. The thir- 
teenth, the speaking of beasts and inanimate things. 
The fourteenth, the breaking out of fire in the province 
of Yaman. The fifteenth, the appearance of a man of 
the descendants of Kahtan, who shall drive men before 
him with his staff. The sixteenth, the coming of 
Al-Mohdi, or the dictator. Mohammed prophesied 



THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT. 353 

that the world should not have an end till a descend- 
ant of his own should govern the Arahs, whose name 
should he the same as his own, and their father s name 
the same. The person answering this description was 
born at Sermanrai, in the two hundred and fifty-fifth 
year of the Hegira: he is believed by the Shiites to be 
still alive, but concealed, and from this tradition arises 
the report among Christians, that the Mohammedans 
expected a return of their prophet. The seventeenth, 
a wind which shall sweep away the souls of all who 
have but a grain of faith in their hearts. 

These seventeen signs shall indicate the approach of 
the day of judgment, but shall not make certain the 
precise time of its arrival; this will be done by the 
three blasts of the trumpet, each of which will take 
place forty years after the preceding. The first is 
called the blast of consternation; then the earth shall 
be shaken, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and 
men shall forget their riches, and women their chil- 
dren, and all the beasts of the earth shall be congre- 
gated together. All this is magnificently described in 
the eighty-first chapter of the Koran. Then cometh 
the second blast, the blast of examination, at the sound 
of which all beings save God alone, shall perish, with 
paradise and hell, and their inhabitants; the throne of 
glory, and the preserved table, and the pen with which 
it was written, >vill be also among those things exempted 
from the common fate. Azrace, the angel of death, 
will be the last that will die. At the third blast, 
called the blast of resurrection, (to blow which Israfil 
shall be raised, who at the second blast had died with 
all angels,) the dead, small and great, shall stand 
before God, Mohammed himself rising first. The pious 
shall find white-winged camels, with saddles of gold, 
prepared for them to ride on; the less worthy among 
believers will walk on foot, while unbelievers will 

2 A 



354 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



appear with their faces on the earth, grovelling in the 
dust, blind, lame, and deformed. The great multitude 
of the dead shall assemble on the earth, renewed to 
receive them: they will be judged one by one, and 
while the judgment is going on the angels will keep 
them in their proper ranks and orders. All this time^ 
while the pains of hell are already beginning to take 
hold on the wicked, the just will suffer a species of 
purgatorial torment, light, however, in comparison of 
that which the wicked will undergo. 

When the risen have waited a certain time, God, say 
the Mohammedan doctors, shall appear in the clouds, 
and surrounded by angels. Then the books will be 
produced, and the office of mediator, successively de- 
clined by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, 
will be undertaken by Mohammed. All will then be 
strictly judged, save seventy thousand of Mohammed's 
first disciples, who will be permitted to enter paradise 
without examination. Then the good and bad deeds 
of each individual shall be compared; a portion of his 
good deeds attributed to each person whom he has 
injured, and of his bad actions to each who has injured 
him. If there remain the weight of an ant in good 
works over evil ones after this, the person is admitted 
to paradise, and the wicked are punished according to 
the measure of their transgressions. 

They then pass over the bridge Al Sirat, in their 
way to the bliss or torture to which they are doomed. 
This bridge, which is laid over the midst of hell, is 
said to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge 
of a sword, so that it seems very difficult to imagine 
how any one can stand upon it; but yet, though some 
few reject it, or consider it as allegorical, the greater 
number firmly believe it in a literal sense. This bridge 
is beset with briars and thorns, but these will not hin- 
der the passage of the faithful; for they, headed by the 



THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT. 355 

prophet himself, shall pass over with wonderful rapid- 
ity, whereas the wicked, embarrassed with the diffi- 
culties of the path, and the want of light, shall fall 
down into hell, which lies stretched out beneath them. 
Those who aver the literal truth of this article of 
their creed, contend that Mohammed's words are all 
literally true, for that he could not tell a falsehood. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OF HEAVEN ASTD HELL. 

On passing the bridge Al Sirat, the road divides, one 
path leading to the right, which is the celestial road, 
and one to the left, which goes to the abodes of per- 
dition. Hell is divided, according to the Mohammedan 
doctors, into seven regions, one below another, and 
appropriated to sinners of various grades. The first is 
called Gehenna, and is the receptacle of those who 
acknowledged one God, but whose wicked works pre- 
vailed over their good ones: these are all Moham- 
medans, and they are to be released from their suffer- 
ings when, by their torments, they have expiated the 
crimes they committed on earth. The second, called 
Ladha, is assigned to the Jews. The third, named 
Hotama, to the Christians. The fourth, Sair, to the 
Sabians. Sakar, the fifth, to the Magians. Al Jahim, 
the sixth, to the idolaters; and Hawiyat, the lowest 
and most dreadful, to the hypocrites, — that is, to such 
as have professed religion, of whatever sect, and have 
not really possessed it. 

Hell having seven gates, one to each division, a 
company of angels will be placed as a guard over each 
gate, to whom the damned will acknowledge the jus- 

2 A 2 



356 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



tice of God, and whom they will pray to intercede with 
God for them, that they may be released or annihilated. 

The punishments of hell are rather alluded to 
than fully described in the Koran; but in the tra- 
ditions they are depicted very much in detail, and 
certainly display some ingenuity. The praise of 
much invention cannot, however, be given them, as 
they are very closely copied from similar traditions in 
the Talmud. The lightest punishment consists in 
wearing shoes of fire, the heat of which causes the 
skull to boil like a caldron. Here, in a state not 
properly either life or death, must the infidel remain 
for ever, but the Moslem only a certain limited period. 
When the skins of these persons are burnt and scorched 
black, then they shall, after a punishment in ice 
or freezing water, be admitted to paradise, but the 
inhabitants of that blissful region will receive them 
with contempt, and call them infernals, till God shall, 
on their prayers, take from them that odious appel- 
lation. Some believe that while those persons remain 
in hell who have embraced the true faith, but who 
acted wickedly, they will be deprived of life, and shall 
not feel pain; but when they return to paradise then 
they shall be washed with the water of life, and so 
recover their consciousness. Such shall continue in 
hell not less than nine hundred nor more than seven 
thousand years. The angels who will be sent to deliver 
them from hell will know them by the marks of pros- 
tration on those parts of their bodies which used to 
touch the ground in prayer; for these the fire had no 
power over; these will therefore remain white when 
the flames and smoke of hell hath blackened all the 
rest; so when they are released by the angels at the 
intercession of Mohammed and the faithful, they are 
plunged in the river of life, which makes them whiter 
than pearls. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



357 



Between heaven and hell is the wall Al Araf, which 
is very broad, and upon it are placed those whose good 
and evil works so exactly balance, that they are worthy 
neither of heaven nor hell. At the last day, however, 
these shall all go into paradise, for they shall then per- 
form an act of adoration which shall be considered as 
meritorious, making the scale of their good works pre- 
ponderate. This wall, Al Araf, is not so broad as to 
hinder the blessed and the damned from talking one to 
the other. 

Those who go by the other path, and are permitted to 
enter paradise, will be refreshed by drinking at the pond 
of the prophet, which is an exact square of thirty days' 
journey in compass ; round it are cups, seventy thousand 
in number, like the stars of heaven ; and whosoever 
drinks of this water shall never thirst again; its taste 
is sweeter than honey ; it is more odoriferous than 
musk, and whiter than silver ; it is supplied from Al 
Cawthar, one of the rivers of paradise, and is the first 
taste the righteous obtain of the delights which await 
them. 

Paradise is, according to the orthodox, placed above 
the seven heavens, and immediately under the throne 
of God ; its soil is of musk and saffron, its pebbles 
are gems, its buildings are enriched with gold and 
silver, and the trunks of its trees are of gold. Among 
these trees, the most remarkable is the Tuba, the tree 
of life and happiness. This grows in the palace of 
Mohammed ; but a branch of it reaches into the 
pavilion of each believer ; it is loaded with every kind 
of fruit, of surprising size, and of tastes unknown to 
mortals ; indeed, if a man wish for any particular 
description of fruit, the bough will bend down, and 
present it to him. Nay, should he choose flesh, it 
will be brought ready dressed, and in dishes of gold, 
according to his wish. More than this, costly robes, 



358 



MOHAMMEDANISM 



and horses ready saddled, will issue from the fruits, if 
it be desired ; and so large is the tree, that a horseman 
mounted on a fleet horse, could not ride round it in a 
hundred years. 

There is another legend, which is given merely on 
account of its absurdity. The fruit of this tree, say 
some, is of ten thousand different sorts, and the leaves 
are like elephant's ears, the shape of the fruit is that 
of a waterpot, and so vast is its size, that the smallest 
w r ill be sufficient for the food of all living beings for 
ever. 

The rivers of paradise are among its greatest beauties; 
some of these rivers flow with water, some with milk, 
some with honey, and some with wine ; there are a 
great number of fountains and springs, whose pebbles 
are rubies and emeralds, their earth camphire, their 
beds musk, and their sides saffron. 

But all these delights are insignificant, when com- 
pared with the beautiful Houries, or Hur-al-ayun, the 
dark-eyed damsels of paradise. These were created, 
not of clay, but of musk, and are free from all the 
defects incidental to earthly women. They are secluded 
from sight in pavilions of hollow pearls, each of which 
is sixty miles long, and as many broad. 

As soon as a believer arrives at the gate of paradise, 
he is met and saluted by the beautiful youths appointed 
to wait upon him. Angels will come also to serve 
him, one running forward and acquainting his wives, 
one bearing the presents sent him by God, one putting 
a ring on his finger, which is to point out the happi- 
ness of his condition, and one investing him with a 
garment of paradise. 

When the blessed are all received into paradise, then 
the earth will become one vast loaf of bread, which 
the hand of the Almighty will hold out to them like a 
cake ; for meat, they will have the Ose Balam, and for 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



359 



fish, the liver of the fish called Nun, which will be 
sufficient for seventy thousand men ; this latter is 
intended only for those who entered paradise without 
examination. Tents of pearls and emeralds, wines of 
the most delicious flavour, and without any inebriating 
properties, magnificent garments and furniture, crowns 
and bracelets, of unrivalled beauty, are to be, also, the 
lot of the faithful; their wives are admitted to the 
same felicity ; and in addition to these, they will have 
seventy-two of the girls of paradise, and eighty thou- 
sand servants. 

The music of paradise is much spoken of in the 
Koran, and we are told that the angel Israfil, who has 
the most melodious voice of all created beings, will 
sing praises to God in paradise ; the houries will also 
be gifted with sweet voices, and will play on many 
instruments ; but, besides these, the very trees, with 
their pearly fruits and golden trunks, will celebrate the 
divine praises, with a harmony beyond the conceptions 
of mortals. But though this be the only view of para- 
dise which the common people take, there is yet a 
higher and more spiritual view in which the more 
devout receive it, deeming all these descriptions of 
felicity to be mere figures of speech ; it is said that 
they shall behold the face of God morning and evening, 
and this is the additional or superabundant recom- 
pense promised in the Koran, which will give so exqui- 
site delight, that all the other pleasures of paradise 
shall be little thought of in comparison; audi this, say 
they, is but reasonable, for every other enjoyment is 
equally tasted by the brute who is turned into an abun- 
dant pasture. 

This is a full confutation of the commonly-received 
opinion, that Mohammed admitted no spiritual plea- 
sures, but made the happiness of the blessed to consist 
wholly in corporeal enjoyment. 



360 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



There is another common opinion which needs to be 
refuted: which is, that Mohammed did not acknow- 
ledge the souls of women. It will be seen, by the 
fact that the wives of believers accompany them to 
paradise, that the contrary is the case ; and the com- 
nion notion is also confuted by the reply which he 
once made to an old woman, who asked him how she 
might be admitted into paradise; to which he replied, 
that no old woman would go there at all. Seeing, 
however, that the old woman was much grieved by 
this, he explained himself much to her satisfaction, 
by declaring that God would restore them all to 
youth. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE ME SUA, OR NIGHT JOURNEY TO HEAVEN. 

The most extraordinary of all the traditions connected 
with Mohammed is the Mesra, or Night Journey to 
Heaven, which thus related ; it is alluded to in the 
seventeenth chapter of the Koran; but the whole 
history is preserved in the Sonna. The account here 
given is taken for the most part from Prideaux. 

As he lay in bed, one night, he heard a knocking 
at the door, whereon arising, he found there the angel 
Gabriel, with seventy pair of wings expanded from his 
sides, whiter than snow, and clearer than crystal, and 
by his side the beast Al Borak, which they say is the 
beast on which the prophets used to ride, when they 
were carried from one place to another, in the execu- 
tion of any divine command. Mohammed describes 
it as a beast white as milk, and of a nature between 
the ass and the mule, and of a swiftness equalling that 
of lightning, and hence it is that he is called Al Borak, 



THE MESRA. 



361 



that word signifying lightning in the Arabic tongue. 
As soon as Mohammed appeared at the door, the angel 
kindly embraced him, and, with a sweet and pleasant 
voice, saluted him in the name of God, telling him 
that he was sent to bring him unto God in heaven, 
where he should see strange mysteries, which are not 
lawful to be seen by any other man; and then bade 
him get on Al Barak ; but it appears that Al Borak, 
having been idle from the time of Christ till that of 
Mohammed, since there had been no prophet in the 
interim, had grown restive and unruly, and would not 
stand still to allow Mohammed to mount. But when 
Gabriel told him who it was who was about to ride, 
and said that for his reward he should have a place in 
paradise, Borak was quiet, and having taken the pro- 
phet on his back, the angel took the bridle, and in the 
twinkling of an eye, the party found themselves at 
Jerusalem. 

As soon as they arrived at the temple, they found 
all the prophets and saints of time past, who came to 
salute Mohammed, and having accompanied him into the 
principal oratory, there left him, begging him to pray 
for them. Mohammed and the angel Gabriel having 
departed thence, found a ladder of light prepared for 
them, which they immediately ascended, without the 
least fatigue, leaving Al Borak tied to its foot, till they 
returned. This ladder reached to the first heaven, 
which when they had attained, Gabriel knocked at the 
gate, and being answered from within, and asked who 
he was, and whom he brought, he replied that he was 
Gabriel, and had brought Mohammed, the friend of 
God, and that he had done this by the divine command. 
While this was being done, Mohammed looked around, 
and saw the stars hanging from this heaven by chains 
of pure gold, each star of xhe bigness of Mount Nobo, 
in Arabia. In the stars he observed angels watching, 



362 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



as the guard of heaven, to prevent the devils from 
approaching, and overhearing what was done there. 

On first entering into this heaven, which was com- 
posed entirely of fine silver, he met a decrepit old man, 
who told him that his name was Adam, tenderly em- 
braced him, and gave God thanks for so great a son, 
fervently recommending himself to the prayers of the 
prophet. As he advanced, he saw a great number of 
angels, in all shapes, some in those of men, others in 
those of birds, others in those of every species of 
quadrupeds. Among those which appeared in the 
shape of birds, was one in the appearance of a cock, 
white as snow, and of so prodigious a size, that though 
his feet stood upon the first heaven, his head reached 
to the second ; which, according to human computation, 
at the rate men travel at on earth, was distant five hun- 
dred years' j ourney . There are not wanting those, am ong 
Arabian divines, who make this cock much bigger, and 
say that he reached from the floor of the first heaven 
to the top of the seventh, which would be a distance 
of three thousand five hundred years' journey, and give 
a very magnificent description of him ; saying that his 
wings are all glittering with gems and carbuncles, and 
he stretches them, one to the east, and the other to the 
west, proportionally to his height. 

When Mohammed asked who were all these crea- 
tures, and what was their office, he was told by the 
angel that they were mediating angels between God 
and the creatures whose shapes they bore ; that those 
who interceded for men had the shape of men ; those 
who interceded for beasts, the shape of beasts ; and 
those who interceded for birds, the shape of birds, 
according to their several kinds. That the great cock 
was the angel of the cocks, and every morning, when 
God sung a holy hymn, this cock constantly joined in 
it by his crowing, which is so loud, that all creatures 



THE MESRA. 



363 



in the universe hear it, save men, genii, and fairies. 
Gabriel also informed him, that when this cock crowed, 
then all cocks on earth crowed also, and all angels 
bearing that shape in heaven. But when the day of 
judgment draws nigh, then God shall command him 
to fold his wings, and to crow no more : and this shall 
be a sign of the coming of that great day, only men 
and fairies, who hear not the crowing, will not be sen- 
sible of the silence from it. 

This cock is reputed to be in such favour with the 
Supreme Being, that it is a common saying among the 
Mohammedans, "There are three voices to which God 
ever inclines his ear : To the voice of him who is con- 
stant in reading the Koran ; to the voice of him who 
early every morning prayeth for the pardon of his sins ; 
and to the voice of the great cock, which is ever most 
acceptable to God." 

From the first heaven they proceeded to the second, 
which is distant from it five hundred years' journey. 
Here he saw many wonderful angels, and their number 
was twice that in the first, and among them one of a 
size so prodigious, that, standing as he did upon the 
second heaven, his head reached to the third. When 
the gates were opened to him, which they did of their 
own accord by the divine command, he was saluted by 
Noah, who greatly rejoiced at seeing the last of the 
prophets, and recommended himself to his prayers. 
This heaven was made entirely of pure gold. 

From hence they ascended to the third, which was 
composed of precious stones, and in which he met 
Abraham, who, like Adam and Noah, recommended 
himself to the prayers of the prophet. Here he saw 
twice as many angels as in the second, and among them 
one so great, that the distance between his eyes was 
seventy thousand days' journey; "in which," Prideaux 
observes, " Mohammed was out in his mathematics, 



364 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



for the distance between a mans eyes being in propor- 
tion to his height but as one to seventy-two, the whole 
height of the angel, at this rate, must have been nearly 
fourteen thousand years' journey, which is four times 
as much as the height of all the seven heavens toge- 
ther, and therefore it is impossible that such an angel 
could ever stand in any of them." To which a Mo- 
hammedan would reply, that it is not said he was con- 
tained in any one, but as the cock lifted his head to the 
top of the seventh heaven, so did this angel also, and 
much higher. This hugest of created beings was 
Azrace, the angel of death, and before him was a tablet 
in which he was continually writing and blotting out. 
On Mohammed asking what was the meaning of this, 
Gabriel informed him that into the table which he had 
before him, he was writing the names of those who 
should be born, and when they had fulfilled the number 
of days allotted to them, he then blotted out their 
names, and they immediately die. 

After observing thus much, they again proceeded, 
and ascended to the fourth heaven, where they found 
the number of angels still progressively increasing. In 
this heaven, which was composed of emerald, they 
found Joseph, the son of Jacob, who, like the rest, 
recommended himself to his prayers. The only angel 
which here attracted his notice was one whose head 
reached to the fifth heaven, and who was continually 
weeping and making great lamentation and mourning; 
and this was, as Gabriel said, for the sins of mankind, 
and the certain destruction which they were bringing 
upon themselves thereby. 

In the fifth heaven, which was made of diamond, he 
found Moses, who recommended himself to his prayers, 
and a number of angels still increasing. 

The same was the case in the sixth heaven, which 
was composed of one perfect carbuncle, and in which 



THE ME SUA. 



365 



John the Baptist recommended himself to the prayers 
of Mohammed. 

In the seventh heaven, which was' composed entirely 
of divine light, he found Jesus Christ, who, saluting 
him, Mohammed recommended himself to his prayers, 
thereby reversing the style which he had hitherto used. 
In this heaven there were twice as many angels as in 
all the heavens beside, and one, perhaps, the most 
extraordinary creation of fancy that the realms of fiction 
can show. This angel had seventy thousand heads, in 
each head seventy thousand faces, in each face seventy 
thousand mouths, in each mouth seventy thousand 
tongues, and with each tongue he spoke seventy thou- 
sand languages at once, with which he praised God day 
and night. 

So far did Gabriel bring Mohammed; but now he 
told him that he must leave him, and that he must go 
the rest of the journey by himself to the throne of God. 
This journey, he says, he performed with great diffi- 
culty, passing through waters and snow, and many 
dense clouds, till at last he came where he heard a 
voice say to him, "Mohammed, salute thy Creator!" 
Ascending a little higher, he saw a vast expanse of 
light, of so vivid a brilliancy that he could not bear to. 
look thereon. In this light was the habitation of the 
Deity, and in it his throne was visible: on the right 
side of this awful throne were the words, in Arabic, 
" There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his 
prophet." These words form the creed of the impos- 
tors followers, and these were also written on the gates 
of the seven heavens through which he passed. 

Being now advanced into the divine presence as near 
to the throne as within two bow-shots, he says that he 
saw God sitting on his throne, with a covering of 
seventy thousand veils before his face, and then the 
Supreme Being put forth his hand in token of his great 



366 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



favour, and laid it upon Mohammed, and it was so cold 
that he could not bear it; he then declares that God 
entered into familiar converse with him, and showed 
him many mysteries, and made him understand all his 
law, and gave him many things in charge concerning 
the new dispensation, of which he was the chief; and, 
in conclusion, endowed him with many great and im- 
portant privileges. These were, that he should be the 
most perfect of God's creatures; that at the day of 
judgment he should ride on the beast Borak, and be 
much distinguished beyond the rest of mankind; that 
he should be the redeemer of all who believed in him ; 
should have the knowledge of all languages, and the 
spoils. of all captives; that he might take women as 
wives and concubines as many as he pleased, and under 
whatever circumstances ; that he, with seventy thousand 
of his people, should enter paradise without having a 
question asked them; and lastly, that the angel of 
death should not take away his soul without first asking 
his permission. He also says that he saw on the right 
hand of the throne of God, the lote tree, beyond which 
none ever passed but himself; and under it he saw all 
the host of angels worshipping. Some writers apply 
to this tree the extravagant description given of the 
tree of life in paradise, namely, that one of the smallest 
of its fruits would be amply sufficient for all the living 
beimrs in heaven and earth for ever, and that this 
wonderful fruit is shaped like a waterpot. 

"While Mohammed was engaged in surveying these 
wonders, a hand came from the cloud and proffered to 
his choice two cups, one filled with milk and one with 
wine. Mohammed took the former, on which a voice 
exclaimed, "O Mohammed! thou hast chosen wisely; 
now shalt thou prosper in thine undertakings; whereas, 
hadst thou taken the wine, they would assuredly have 
all come to nought." This was the reason for which 



THE MESRA. 



367 



some say that he forbade wine to his disciples. But 
the most extraordinary part of his conversation with 
God is, that he was told to command his followers to 
pray fifty times a day. 

When he had got as far on his return as the third 
heaven, and was relating to Abraham the wonders he 
had beheld, and among other things repeated this com- 
mand, Abraham objected that it was impossible that it 
could be fulfilled; and Mohammed says that he went 
back into the divine presence to complain that an im- 
possibility had been commanded him. The impossi- 
bility was acknowledged, and the number of prayers 
reduced to five. 

Returning to the seventh heaven again, he found the 
angel Gabriel waiting for him, and they traversed toge- 
ther once more the seven heavens. When they reached 
the first, they saw the ladder of light by which they 
had ascended, and making their descent the same way, 
the prophet mounted Al Borak, the angel took the 
bridle, and at once, in the twinkling of an eye, the 
trio were at Mecca. 

By way of showing the extreme rapidity with w r hich 
this journey had been performed, it is said that, on his 
return to his chamber door, Gabriel pointed out to 
Mohammed a pitcher which Al Borak had kicked over 
when they started, and the water was not yet all run 
out of it. The more sober writers who record this 
marvellous transaction say, that it occupied the twelfth 
part of the night, while some treat it altogether as a 
vision; but the orthodox believe this, as everything 
else which their prophet spake, is to be taken literally, 
and accordingly they firmly believe it. 



368 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



CHAPTER X. 

OF THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 

Of all those parts of the Moslem code which are allowed 
to be merely ceremonial, the most important is the pil- 
grimage to Mecca, a duty of so great moment, that the 
prophet is reported to have said, " lie who dies with- 
out performing this pilgrimage, may as well die a Chris- 
tian or a Jew." The Caaba, which is a square stone 
building, of considerable height, is situated in the centre 
of that celebrated temple so highly venerated by the 
Mohammedans. This Caaba is called Beit Allah, or the 
House of God, and though probably only an idol temple 
at first, is yet said to be almost coeval with the world ; 
for when Adam was in paradise, they tell us of a cer- 
tain oratory, or house of prayer, which he had there, 
and that when he was, in consequence of his trans- 
gression, driven out from thence, he petitioned God 
that he might have a house of prayer like to the former. 
Then the Almighty let down from heaven, in curtains 
of light, a representation of that house, and commanded 
Adam always, when he prayed, to turn towards it. 
This building was placed in Mecca, under the place in 
paradise where the original is supposed to stand. 

A similar tradition prevailed in the early Christian 
church as to the relative locality of the earthly and 
heavenly Jerusalem. At the death of Adam, this house, 
it appears, was taken up again into heaven, for we find 
Seth building another on the same plan, and in the 
same place, and this being destroyed by the Flood, was 
rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael, at Gods especial 
command, and after the model of the antediluvian 
temple, which was shown them by inspiration. The 
Caaba, as left by these patriarchs, is said to have been 



PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 



369 



repaired from time to time till the vera, of the Koreish, 
who, a few years after the birth of Mohammed, rebuilt 
it on the old foundation. This edifice did not bear the 
ravages of time so well as the former, for it was not 
only thoroughly repaired by Abdallah Ebn Zobeir, the 
caliph of Mecca, but entirely rebuilt in the seventy- 
fourth year of the Hegira, in the form in which it now 
exists. The celebrated Haroun Al Rashid wished to 
restore it to its primitive form, which it is not now 
thought exactly to preserve, but was prevented by his 
priests, who said that if the sacred building became a 
sport for princes it would lose somewhat of its ancient 
sanctity. The traditions say that it will remain in its 
present state till the signs shall appear which denote 
the coming of the day of judgment; then it shall be 
attacked by the Ethiopians, and destroyed ; after which 
it shall never again be rebuilt. 

The Caaba being the most holy part of the temple, 
and reputed to have been the work, in the first place, 
of Abraham, it is natural to expect that there should 
be preserved here some relics of this eminent patriarch. 
Accordingly, in the south-east corner is a black stone, 
set in a frame-work of silver, and placed so as to look 
towards Basra: it is about a yard and a quarter from 
the ground, and is considered the most holy thing in 
existence, some calling it the right hand of God on 
earth. It was, they say, one of the precious stones 
of paradise, and fell down to the earth with Adam; 
but when the flood came it was taken out of the Caaba, 
and preserved till the rebuilding of it by Abraham, to 
whom it was brought by the angel Gabriel. It was at 
this time whiter than milk, but has since become black, 
some say by some ceremonial defilement, others by the 
sins of the world, and others say that it is yet white in 
the inside, but that the touches and kisses of so vast a 

2 B 



370 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



concourse of pilgrims have in the course of ages made 
it black, and this appears to be the truth. 

The temple of Mecca has shared in the fortunes of 
the city, and when the latter was in the possession of 
the Karmatians, they, among other sacrilegious con- 
duct, carried off this sacred stone, nor could the Meccans 
reobtain it till they offered five thousand pieces of gold 
for it. It appears that the Karmatians considered it 
as a source of wealth, supposing that it was this which 
attracted the crowds of pilgrims to Mecca, and that if 
they kept it the pilgrims would come to them. Find- 
ing this not to be the case, they, after having kept it 
twenty-two years, sent it back unasked, but declared 
at the same time that it was not what the Meccans 
took it for, but only a counterfeit. It was, however, 
soon shown to be genuine, by a property which no 
other stone possesses, — that of floating on water. 

This black stone, though the chief, is not the only 
relic of Abraham preserved here. They show a stone 
on which is the print of a foot, said to be Abraham's; 
saying that on this stone he stood when he built the 
Caaba, and that it served him as a scaffold, rising and 
falling of itself when necessary. Another tradition 
says that he only stood upon it once, when the wife of 
his son Ishmael, to whom he paid a visit, washed his 
head. This stone is kept enclosed in an iron chest, 
out of which the pilgrims drink the water of the well 
Zem-Zeni, and by it they are ordered by the Koran to 
pray. When the Karmatians carried off the black 
stone, this was carefully hidden b} r the officers of the 
temple. The chest is not kept in the Caaba, but in 
the station of Abraham. On the east side of this 
building there is a small square edifice covered with a 
cupola, under which is the celebrated well Zem-Zem. 
This is, they say, the spring which gushed out in the 
wilderness for the relief of Hagar, when, with the 



PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 



371 



infant Ishmael, she fled from her enraged mistress. 
The water of this well is accounted peculiarly holy; it 
is sent in bottles to every part of the Mohammedan 
dominions, — believed to have wonderful virtue in curing 
diseases, — and, according to Abdallah al Hand, has 
the gift of conferring a strong memory. There is 
another point of belief with many which is worth notice 
with regard to this well; it is, that the spirits of be- 
lievers reside in it from their death to the day of judg- 
ment, while those of infidels will be thrust into a well 
in a distant part of Arabia, the name of which well is 
Al Borhut. 

The Caaba has a double roof, supported within by 
three octagonal pillars of aloes wood, between which, 
on a bar of iron, hang silver lamps. The exterior is 
covered w r ith rich black damask, adorned with an em- 
broidered band of gold, which is changed every year: 
it used, in the first place, to be provided by the caliphs, 
then by the sultans of Egypt, and is now furnished by 
the Turkish sultan. At a little distance on the north 
side, within a circular enclosure fifty cubits long, lies 
the white stone said to be the sepulchre of Ishmael. 
On this, the water that is collected on the roof of the 
Caaba is allowed to fall by a golden spout : this was at 
first a wooden spout, but the present was supplied by 
the caliph Haroun Al Rashid. The Caaba is in length 
thirty-six feet from north to south; its breadth from 
east to west thirty-four feet and a half; and its height 
forty feet. The door is on the east side, and is six 
feet from the ground, the floor being level with the 
bottom of the door. The sacred building is surrounded 
at some distance by a circular enclosure of pillars, 
which are joined at the bottom by a low balustrade, 
and towards the top by bars of silver, from which lamps 
are hung. Just without this inner enclosure, on the 
south, north, an I west sides of the Caaba, are three 



372 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



buildings, which are the oratories or places where three 
of the sects among the faithful assemble to perform 
their devotions; the fourth, which is on the east side, 
being called the station of Abraham, and used by the 
sect of Al Shafei. To the south-east stand the well 
Zem-Zem, the cupola of Al Abbas, and the treasury. 

All these buildings are enclosed at a considerable 
distance by a magnificent colonnade, or piazza, like 
that of the Royal Exchange in London, but much 
larger: it is covered with small cupolas, surmounted 
by crescents, and having minarets at the four corners, 
with double galleries, and adorned with spires and 
crescents, which are gilded, as well as the crescents on 
the small cupolas. All the spaces between the pillars 
of this enclosure, like that of the inner one, are hung 
with silver lamps, which at night are kept constantly 
lighted. This outward enclosure, which was at first 
only a bare low wall to mark the precincts of the tem- 
ple, was built by Omar, and it has been raised to its 
present lustre by a long succession of princes and great 
men. 

This temple, though peculiarly holy, is not so exclu- 
sively ; the whole territory of Mecca, for ten miles round 
the city, being considered so sacred that it is not allowed 
to hunt, or to shoot, or to cut even a branch from a 
tree within it. This holy spot is marked by a line of 
turrets at equal distances. Pilgrims who arrive at 
Mecca, having scrupulously abstained from destroying 
life on their pilgrimage, when they reach the sacred 
territory, put on the sacred habit which distinguishes 
them as such: these consist of two woollen wrappers, 
one bound round the loins, and one thrown over the 
shoulders; then, with the head bare, and the feet in a 
kind of slippers, they enter the holy enclosure. 

When at Mecca, the ceremonies begin, which consist 
in going seven times round the Caaba, and seven times 



PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA. 



373 



kissing the black stone, — running seven times between 
the hills Safa and Menva, — praying one day on Mount 
Arafat, and one night at Mozdalifa, — throwing three 
stones at a pillar in the valley of Mina, which repre- 
sents the devil, whom Abraham is said to have met 
there, and driven away with stones, — slaying in the 
same place certain victims, and shaving the hair, and 
cutting the nails, burying them on the spot where 
they were cut, — and paying a farewell visit to the 
Caaba. These ceremonies being finished, the pil- 
grimage is complete, and the person who has performed 
it takes the title of Hadsfi in addition to his name. 
None of these ceremonies are originally of Mohammed's 
appointment ; he found them adopted by the pagan 
Arabs, and knowing how enthusiastically they were 
attached to those relics of paganism, he, though well 
aware of their inutility, yet preserved them to gain 
popularity, only altering some points in which the old 
forms were very reprehensible. Thus the Arabs, before 
his time, compassed the Caaba naked, alleging that 
this was significant of their throwing aside their sins: 
but this Mohammed reformed, saying at the same time, 
that in the presence of God all ornaments should be 
laid aside, in token of deep humility. It is observed 
in the Koran, that all these rites are only valuable as 
tests of the obedience of mankind, and not on account 
of any intrinsic worth. 



CHAPTER XL 

OF TRADITIONS PRESERVED AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 

In the traditions, and in the Koran, are preserved ac- 
counts of all those great events which we find in the 
Jewish Scriptures ; they are, for the most part, taken 



374 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



from the Talmud, and foisted into the Koran or adopted 
in the traditions, hy the Jewish assistant of the pro- 
phet. A few of these, by way of specimen, will form 
the subject of the present chapter. 

Their history of the creation of Adam is very 
singular. God, say they, sent four of his angels in 
succession, Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and Azrace, to 
fetch seven handsful of earth, from different depths 
and of different colours, that he might make man 
therewith; but the earth remonstrating and saying, 
that the being so created would rebel against God, the 
three first came back without executing their com- 
mission. Azrace, however, performed it, and was 
appointed as the angel of death. The earth thus 
taken, was carried to a place between Mecca and 
Tayef, where, after having being kneaded by the angels, 
God fashioned it himself into a human form, and left 
it for forty years to dry. The angels, during this 
period, often visited it, and Eblis, then one of the 
loftiest of archangels, knowing that it was intended to 
be superior to them, and that they would be required 
to worship it, kicked it till it rung, and secretly resolved 
never to acknowledge it as his superior. After this, it 
was animated by the breath of God, and the angels 
were called on to do homage to it. They were un 
willing at first to do so, but on being convinced that 
Adam was wiser than they, they (with the exception 
of Eblis and one-third of the angels,) did the required 
homage. Eblis and his companions were immediately 
driven out from the presence of God, avowing their 
determination to ruin this new work of his hands. 
Accordingly, we have the history of the fall, given with 
but little variation, in the Koran. 

There is a Gospel of St. Barnabas, which the Mo- 
hammedans accept as of divine origin, which is a 
forgery of some early Christians, with many Mohani- 



TRADITIONS. 



375 



medan interpolations. From a Spanish version of this 
book, some other particulars are deduced'"". 

Enoch is spoken of in the Koran, under the name 
of Edris, and his translation is not obscurely hinted 
at ; but a very full account is given of Noah, who is 
regarded as one of the six great prophets, though no 
written revelation was given to him. There are, how- 
ever, not a few, who pretend that Noah was only sent 
to Zohak, a king of Persia, who refused to hearken to 
him ; and that then he openly declared God's unity, for 
the world was then deeply sunk in idolatry, and that 
was the evil against which Noah preached. 

There were two other prophets sent to particular 
people, subsequently; Saleh to the tribe of Thamud, 
and Hud to the tribe of Ad. The people of Thamud 
proposed to Saleh, that the god who answered by a 
miracle, should be considered divine. This condition 
being accepted, they requested him to call forth a she- 
camel from the rock before them, solemnly engaging 
if he did so, they would believe in God alone. Saleh 
called to the rock, and a she-camel came forth exactly 
answering to the description given by the Thamudites, 
and she immediately gave birth to a young camel, who, 
to complete the miracle, was as big as herself. This 
people then became true believers, warned both by 
this miracle and the awful destruction which had 
befallen the tribe of Ad, who had possessed that 
territory before them. 

* Y 11am o Dios a la serpiente y a Michael aquel tiene la 
espada de Dios y le dixo, Aquesta sierpe es acelerada echala 
la primera del Parayso y cortale las piernas y si quisiere 
caminar arrastrara la vida por tierra, y 11am d a Satanas el qual 
vino riendo y dixole. Porque tu reprobo has enganado a 
aquestos y los has hecho inimundos ? Yo quiero que toda 
immundicia fcuya y de todos sus hijos en saliendo des sus 
cuerpos entre por tu boca porque en verdad ellos haran peni- 
tencia y tu quedaras harto de immundicia. 



376 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



"When Hud was sent to the Adites, they refused to 
believe, whereupon God afflicted them with a drought 
for three years. They then sent two of their principal 
people, Kail and Morthed, with a large deputation to 
Mecca, to inquire at the temple. This city was then 
in the possession of a prince whose name was Moawi- 
yah Ebn Beer, and he being without the city when the 
ambassadors arrived, entertained them for a month in 
so hospitable a manner, that they would have quite 
forgotten the business about which they came, if the 
king had not reminded them of it ; this he did, not 
himself, lest it should seem that he wanted to get rid 
of them, but by the mouth of a singing- woman. At 
this, being roused from their lethargy, Morthed told 
them, that the only way to obtain favour from God, 
would be to obey their prophet; but this advice was 
far from pleasing the rest; they with one accord went 
to Moawiyah and begged him to imprison Morthed, 
which being done, Kail and the rest went on to Mecca, 
and entering into the temple, begged that rain might 
be sent to the people of Ad. Whereupon, three 
clouds appeared, of which Kail was permitted to take 
his choice. One was white, one red, and one black. 
Kail chose the last, and went home with his companions 
rejoicing, but the cloud was brought over their city 
and burst upon it; it proved to be fraught with the 
divine vengeance, and a tempest broke forth from it 
which destroyed the whole tribe. 

The history of Moses is preserved without much 
corruption: a few efforts of fancy have been allowed 
to amplify his miracles. Such is the account of the 
serpent, into which the rod of Moses was turned, 
which, according to them, was of so vast a size, that 
when he opened his mouth his jaws were eighty cubits 
(one hundred and twenty feet) asunder, and that when 
he lay down, his upper jaw reached to the top of the 



TRADITIONS. 



377 



palace. At the siglit of this monster, Pharaoh, as was 
but reasonable, was so terrified, that he and all his 
court took to their heels, and twenty-five thousand of 
them perished in the press. He assured Moses that if 
he would but remove that fearful serpent, he would 
certainly let the Israelites go, and become a proselyte 
himself: but when the serpent became once more a 
rod, he hardened his heart as before. One of his 
miracles, that of the leprosy on his own hand, is a 
little altered in the Mohammedan version. It is there 
said not to have become leprous, but only so white 
and brilliant, that the sun in the firmament was dim 
when compared to it. 

Their fables concerning Abraham, whom they regard 
as the great father of their race, are many and various. 
They have a tradition that he was an idolater in his 
youth, as was his father; and being by the angel 
Gabriel converted to the knowledge of the true God, 
he one day got into an idol temple and broke all the 
idols, putting the mallet with which he did it into the 
hands of the largest idol, and afterwards taxed the 
idol with having broken all the rest; but when he 
found the worshippers of the idols unwilling to believe 
this, he reproved them for worshipping things which 
they knew incapable of motion, and thus led them to 
the knowledge of the true Gocl. After this, he was 
called upon by Nimrod to bow down and worship him, 
that prince having made himself the only object of 
adoration to his subjects. On Abraham's refusal, he 
was bound and flung into a fire so vast and fierce, that 
twenty-two thousand of the idolaters around it were 
destroyed by the heat. However, to Abraham it did 
no hurt, merely burning the bands with which he was 
confined, and appearing to him only as an odorous 
wind, which fanned him while he walked through a 
pleasant garden. Nimrod himself was soon punished for 



378 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



his calling himself the lord of all creatures, for God 
sent a gnat, which was one of the smallest of them, 
and it got up the nostrils of Nimrod, and so penetrated 
to his brain, where growing bigger every day, it caused 
him so much pain, that he was obliged to have his 
head beaten with mallets for four hundred years, and 
so he died. 

An extract from the Gospel of St. Barnabas, will 
conclude this chapter. It is said, that when the Jews 
were about to apprehend Jesus in the garden, he was 
taken from them and carried up to the third heaven 
by four angels, namely, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and 
Uriel, and that thus he was rescued; nor will he die 
till the end of the world: but that the Jews seized 
upon Judas, who was miraculously made to assume 
the appearance of Christ, took him before Pontius 
Pilate, scourged, mocked, and crucified him. So great 
w T as this resemblance, that even the Virgin and the 
Apostles were deceived by it; but that Jesus after- 
wards appeared to these and comforted them. Barna- 
bas asking him, why he had suffered the world and his 
followers to suppose that he had died an ignominious 
death, Jesus replied, "O Barnabas! believe me that 
every sin, how small soever, is punished by God with 
great torment, because God is offended with sin. My 
mother, therefore, and faithful disciples, having loved 
me with a mixture of earthly love, God has punished 
them with this present grief, that they may not be 
punished for it in hell; and as for me, though I have 
been blameless myself, yet because others have called 
me God, and the Son of God, therefore God alloweth 
me to be mocked by this death of Judas, that I may 
not be mocked by the devils at the day of judgment; 
and hence it is, that this mocking is still to continue 
till the coming of Mohammed, the messenger of God, 
who coming into the world, will undeceive every one 



TRADITIONS. 



379 



who shall believe in the law of God from this mistake." 
The Mohammedans entertain the greatest horror for 
the character of Judas, and the greatest hatred of his 
conduct. There is, near Jerusalem, a heap of stones, 
which they call the sepulchre of Judas, and on which 
every Moslem throws one as he is passing, spitting 
towards it at the same time, to mark his detestation of 
the traitor. 



CHAPTER XII. 

OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF ISLAM; THEIR SPIRIT AND 
EFFECT. 

Mohammedanism is to he viewed not only as a scheme 
of religion, but as a civil code ; for the laws of all coun- 
tries professing Islamism are referable to the Koran as 
the source from which they are all taken, and to which 
there always lies an appeal. The civil law, then, which 
Mohammed propounded, law by law, at various times, 
and at considerable intervals, was one which has many 
excellences, and, comparatively speaking, few defects. 
There are few countries in which justice is more rigidly 
administered than in those which profess Moham- 
medanism ; and, making due allowance for the indulg- 
ence granted to his conquering Arabs, as a lure to the 
acceptance of his doctrine, it may be said that he looked 
to the interests of posterity, and gave them a system of 
jurisprudence which was well calculated to promote 
their happiness. That this is the case, is evident from 
the long continuance of his system, the vast countries 
in which it prevailed, and the mental as well as poli- 
tical prosperity enjoyed by many of them. It is but 
to refer to the princes of the caliphate, to the Aben- 



380 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



cerages in Spain, and to the empire of Saladin, to con- 
vince the most prejudiced that Islamism did not neces- 
sarily foster ignorance. Poetry, painting, the mecha- 
nical arts, architecture, medicine, astronomy, and mathe- 
matics, were understood by these people far better than 
by the Christians of their time; the germs of romance, 
properly so called, and the rudiments of a better school 
of poetry, were brought back by the crusaders on their 
return from the East; and if Europe did lose some 
thousands of men who would otherwise have perished 
in petty quarrels among their own princes, she gained, 
in return, arts, science, military tactics, a high chival- 
rous feeling, and a knowledge of the world at large, 
which would else have remained shut up among their 
Eastern possessors. 

But though the effect of the crusades might be to 
disseminate good in Europe, it does not therefore follow 
that the effects of Mohammedanism were also good. 
It is true that a valuable code of laws was given, and 
after a while the throne of the caliphate was filled 
vv T ith a succession of active and enlightened princes; 
but though their reigns were, without a doubt, imme- 
diately beneficial, the system of which they were the 
supporters was only calculated, for the beginning of 
mental cultivation. The tales which the Mohammedan 
doctors told their disciples had been before published 
by the Talmudists; and Mohammed, when he acknow- 
ledged the truth of the Mosaic dispensation, added 
weight and authority to his own. That which men 
have believed in times past they will be willing to 
believe again; and, while the Jews were attracted by 
finding the mission of Moses declared, and the traditions 
of the Talmud repeated, the pagans were induced to 
look on the prophet only as a reformer of that religion 
from which themselves had but half departed. 

To a nation, warm, impetuous, and highly ima- 



INSTITUTIONS OP ISLAM. 



381 



ginative, the circulation of legends, poetical in character, 
and clothed in the most sublime and nervous language, 
must have been peculiarly pleasing : it would be exactly 
in accordance with their tastes, for the barbarity of a 
nation has never been a bar to the production of the 
most finished poetry, or to its favourable reception 
when produced. Homer lived when the first rudi- 
ments of civilization were scarcely known, and he has 
never been surpassed, perhaps never equalled, by the 
poets of a more polished age. Accordingly we find 
the Koran read with avidity, and its author implicitly 
obeyed; but an age like that of which we have been 
speaking, will ever be void of reflection, more prone to 
act than to deliberate, and totally averse from abstruse 
metaphysical speculations. To men of this class, and 
to such an age as this, was the Koran addressed. Its 
author was noble, popular, fascinating in manner, rich, 
and endowed with talents the most splendid and the 
most consummate; he had travelled and thought much, 
and though, in the usual acceptation of the word, un- 
learned himself, he knew how to use the powers of 
those who were not so. He adapted his scheme for 
the people to whom he offered it. He called an active, 
ardent nation to war; he proposed an exaggerated, but 
poetical picture of religion, to an imaginative race of 
men; they were unreflecting, and he required no study; 
they were voluptuous and he promised them an eternity 
of sensual pleasures. He flattered their prejudices; he 
allowed them to retain the most popular parts of their 
pagan ceremonies; and, since there was nothing in 
his system to disgust them, and everything to allure 
them, he boldly demanded an implicit faith and an 
implicit obedience from his followers. 

Conquest to an Arab, under the command of Mo- 
hammed, was not an empty glory; a due share of the 
spoils and the persons of all his female captives was a 



382 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



bribe strong enough to induce the most undaunted 
perseverance; and, when to this was added the cer- 
tainty of paradise, and such a paradise! to all who 
fell in battle, we need no longer wonder at the spread 
of Islam. The more obvious objections to his scheme 
he contrived to answer in his life by the successive 
revelations of his Koran; and the more abstruse ones, 
wdiich would require a deeper examination or more 
attentive thought, his immediate followers had no time 
to make. But the system of implicit faith, as well as 
implicit obedience, making the mind, as it were, sta- 
tionary, could only act beneficially for a certain time. 
So long as the revelations of Mohammed were beyond 
his sera, or rather in advance of the conceptions of his 
followers, the result was beneficial to their social and 
political state; but directly they arrived at that period 
of civilization when the powers of abstract reasoning 
become drawn out, and men contemplate the nature, 
bearings, and metaphysical results of every question 
laid before them, then they felt that their reason or 
their religion must one of them be wrong, or, at least, 
the aspect of the case gave them a yet undefined sus- 
picion that it might be so, while the awful denun- 
ciations of the prophet upon those who doubted, recurred 
to their minds with all the prejudices of habit and 
education, and, to escape the dilemma, they determined 
not to reason upon it at all; but he who reasons 
weakly, or refuses to reason at all, on one point, is but 
too likely to do so in others ; and if we take that for 
granted of the truth of which we have misgivings in 
one case, we shall soon lose the power of resistance to 
prejudice, and our mind will become little more than 
a mere memory of events. 

Under circumstances such as these, it is fortunate 
for a nation when the power of imagination is common 
among them. Poetry, romance, and the fine arts, but 



INSTITUTIONS OF ISLAM. 



383 



especially the former, may perhaps flourish while phi- 
losophy lies in the dust; and if commerce and war be 
successful, the start which such a nation has taken 
before others may continue even when those other 
nations have begun steadily to act upon a more 
rational and a more intellectual system. This has been 
the case with the Mohammedan countries; they ad- 
vanced almost at once to a pitch of refinement which 
made them the wonder and the envy of their Christian 
contemporaries; but, when arrived there, they remained 
stationary, while those whose religion would bear the 
test of reason were encouraged to use that reason in 
other pursuits. Among them, science and philo- 
sophy are in the same state in which they were ten 
centuries ago ; among us, they are being still further 
prosecuted, and it seems as though it were but just 
discovered to what a boundless treasury of knowledge 
the human mind may have access. 

Another principle which was necessary at the time 
for the existence, and has since been eminently ser- 
viceable in the propagation, of Islam, is the fatalism 
which it avowed. The baneful effects of this belief 
were not felt while each man thought himself predes- 
tinated to conquer, and felt only anxious to distinguish 
himself; but now that those ages of excitement have 
for the most part passed away, that the arms of Islam 
are more often unfortunate than prosperous, it has 
induced an indolence of body and mind which is the 
melancholy characteristic of the Mohammedan nations 
in general. Their seclusion of women has greatly 
tended to encourage this state of mind. There is 
perhaps nothing so likely to enliven the faculties, and 
to polish the mind, as cultivated female society, and 
to this the Mohammedan nations are almost totally 
strangers. 

It is a very curious fact, that the doctors of this 



384 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



religion say that its efficacy is at an end, — that the 
external observances remain, but there is no longer any 
power; and, indeed, when we see the improvements 
w 7 hich are being now introduced into Turkey, and will 
be from thence disseminated into other countries pro- 
fessing the same creed, we may give credit to the doc- 
tors who thus speak; for the improvements and insti- 
tutions of a Christian country, which arise from, and 
stimulate in return a free use of, the reasoning powers, 
cannot consist with the earnest and ardent belief of a 
religion which suppresses them. Mohammedans may 
remain such in name, under new and intellectual insti- 
tutions; but, like the Jews who were of the sect of 
the Sadducees, the name will be all of their religion 
that they will retain* 



385 



Section XI. 

THE TALMUD, AND THE TRADITIONS 
OF THE JEWS. 



CHAPTER I. 

ANTEDILUVIAN TRADITIONS. 

It is among the chosen people that we must expect to 
find the most extensive knowledge, and the most un- 
mixed purity of tradition; and so far as the writings 
of Moses go, this will be at once acknowledged: but, 
by a singular perversion of mind, the Jews seem, of 
all nations, to have wandered farthest from the truth, 
and most to have corrupted the oral traditions which 
they received, This people appear to have had a 
strong bias towards idolatry ; even when Moses, their 
prince and lawgiver, was in the mount communing 
with God, they made a golden calf, (in imitation of 
the Egyptian idol, afterwards called Apis,) and fell 
down and worshipped it. Their frequent relapses into 
idolatry, in spite of the most astounding miracles and 
the most awful judgments, give us but too much 
reason to believe, that there was among them a deep- 
seated ignorance, producing then, as it does now, and 
ever will produce, a strange and debasing mixture of 
superstition and infidelity. 

That all systems of religion have been based upon 
patriarchal traditions, we shall soon attempt to show; 
but those traditions were preserved afterwards in the 

2 C 



386 



THE TALMUD. 



Mosaic writings, and thus presented to us without any 
mixture of human invention. Had they not been so 
preserved, we should have been as much in error about 
antediluvian history, cosmogony, and revelation, as 
were the Greeks, the Hindoos, or the Chinese. Those 
events which have come down to us only by tradition, 
appear, after coming out of the rabbinical alembic, 
so distorted and disguised, as to be perfectly useless, 
and for the most part of doubtful authority. 

The great reservoir of Jewish tradition is the book, 
or rather the books, called the Talmud. Of these 
there are two, one called the Babylonish, and one 
called the Jerusalem Talmud: the former is now about 
fourteen hundred, the latter about sixteen hundred 
years old. This is also so difficult and obscure, that 
the Babylonish Talmud is that generally implied, when 
the Talmud is mentioned. This book, which is full of 
nonsense and impiety, is yet considered necessary to be 
known, understood, and believed; and certainly if any 
one can pretend to understand it, he may without 
much difficulty believe it also. The nature of the 
book will be best understood from an account of its 
origin. 

At the time of the Christian sera, the traditions, as 
they were called, of the law, (by >which was meant 
the decisions of the doctors on disputed points of the 
Mosaic code, and the extravagant fables with which 
they adorned their comments,) had attained so great a 
bulk and so high a degree of veneration, as quite to 
supersede the law itself in the common estimation. 

These traditions, which were supposed to have been 
handed down, some from the sera of Moses, and some 
from a period far anterior, were, for the most part, 
mere directions for ridiculous ceremonies, questions of 
stupid casuistry as stupidly decided, and fables which 
by their absurdity alone would have disgusted any 



ANTEDILUVIAN TRADITIONS. 



387 



other nation*. Some of these, in the course of this 
section, we shall consider. 

The effect of these traditions could only be to call 
off the attention from those broad and unvarying 
principles of moral rectitude, which formed the basis 
of the Mosaic law. These observances, questions, 
legends, and philosophical treatises, which had then 
become so numerous, were at last collected by one 
Rabbi Judah, who called his collection Mischna. On 
this book, which was held, of course, in equal veneration 

* It is only due, however, to the Jews to state, that the 
well-informed among them have in all ages received these 
fables in an allegorical sense, and have considered those as 
much mistaken who have understood them literally, as were 
the monks of Doberan, when they understood our Saviour's 
miracles to be relations of facts, and showed accordingly 
among their relics, "a piece of the apron which the butcher wore 
when he killed the calf on the return of the prodigal son." 
Some of the explanations they give, are very pertinent. When 
the Talmud speaks of the great size of Hell in comparison 
with Paradise, the meaning is (say these commentators) that 
but few shall be saved in comparison with those who, through 
the wickedness and unbelief of the world, shall be lost ; on 
this ground they urge us to earnest endeavours after salvation. 
Again, when the Talmud informs us that Hell and Paradise 
are parted only by a wall, the breadth of three fingers, we 
are to understand, that many who think to enter Paradise 
will be refused, being found wanting, though perhaps but a 
little, and that this is revealed in order that we should not 
deceive ourselves, but be zealous in good works. The most 
remarkable of these allegories, is that which inculcates the 
doctrine of innate ideas and a natural conscience. In the 
Talmud treatise, Hakkodesh, is the assertion that a before a 
child is born, one cometh, having a candle lighted, which he 
putteth on the child's head, and then taketh him from one end 
of the earth to the other ; that an angel cometh and taketh 
the child in the morning into Paradise, and in the evening into 
Hell, every day, that he may see the righteous and the wicked, 
with their rewards and punishments, in order that the child 
seeing these things, may be exhorted to live well when he 
shall be born." 

2 c 2 



388 



THE TALMUD. 



•with the separate traditions, many learned men wrote 
comments; and after some time, a selection of the 
most valuable of these being made, they were called 
Gemara: and thus the Mischna or text, and the 
Gemara or comment, making one book, received the 
name of the Talmud. 

A specimen of the questions discussed will show 
the importance of the book, and a specimen of the 
veneration in which it was held, will show its probable 
effect upon Jewish society. Whether it be lawful to 
ride an ass to water on the Sabbath-day, or whether he 
must be led by the halter ? Whether it be lawful on 
that day, to write as many letters of the alphabet as 
will make sense? Whether it be lawful to walk over 
newly-sown land, lest peradventure any grain sticking 
to our feet, we may sow it again ? Whether, [in puri- 
fying a house from the old leaven, it be necessary to 
begin again, if a mouse be seen running across it with 
a bit of bread in his mouth? Such are some of the 
questions agitated ; now, for the estimation in which 
these things were held. " The law," says a talmudic 
treatise, " is like water, the world cannot subsist with- 
out water; the Mischna is like wine, but the Gemara 
is like spiced wine, which is better than either ." 

It is with the first of men the romances in this book 
begin, and Adam, of whose knowledge we can hardly 
form too high an idea, was said to be endued with 
magic. " God," say the talmudists, " gave him a 
precious jewel, the very sight of which would cure all 
diseases; this came afterwards into the possession of 
Abraham, but after his death, because by reason of its 
exceding brightness it was likely to be worshipped, 
God hung it on the sun." Our first parents w r ere, ac- 
cording to rabbinical tradition, of a gigantic stature ; 
and this legend has been borrowed and improved by 
the Mohammedans, who have it, that when Adam and 



ANTEDILUVIAN TRADITIONS. 



389 



Eve were expelled from Paradise, they went to Ceylon, 
and there, on the Pico d'Adarna, is a print of Adam's 
foot; which proves the truth of their account. 

The transmigration of souls is insisted upon much 
in this book, and the soul of Adam is said to have 
passed successively into the bodies of Noah and 
David; it will also pass into the Messiah. This doc- 
trine they took from the Egyptian mythology, and it 
is still more ancient than their residence in Egypt. 
Abraham was the person to whom, they say, it was 
first revealed, and he taught that the souls of men 
passed into women, beasts, birds, and even reptiles, 
rocks and plants. The spirit of a man was punished 
by passing into a woman, received a still greater 
punishment by being made a beast, and if the conduct 
of the man had been very atrocious, it took some 
reptile or inanimate form; and if a woman act 
righteously, she will, in another state, become a man. 
Thus the ass that carried Balaam, the ravens that fed 
Elisha, the whale that swallowed Jonah, are all sup- 
posed to have possessed reasonable, transmigrated souls. 

This transmigration gives an opportunity of display- 
ing some of that logic for which the Talmud is peculi- 
arly celebrated. An instance occurs in the case of Cain 
and Abel. " Cain carried off the twin-sister of Abel, 
wherefore, the soul of Cain went into Jethro, and the 
soul of Abel into Moses, and Jethro gave Moses his 
daughter Zipporah to wife." 



390 



THE TALMUD. 



CHAPTER II. 

TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES. 

We have, in the section on Mohammedanism, given 
an account of the night-journey to heaven, performed 
by the prophet. We shall now give that rabbinical 
fiction from which it is copied, namely, the ascent of 
Moses from Mount Sinai into heaven, to fetch the law. 

" When Moses was about to ascend, a cloud descended 
and placed itself before him; but Moses, our instructor, 
not knowing whether he was to get upon or lay hold 
of it, hesitated: then the cloud was rent asunder, and 
he went into it and walked about, as a man walks 
about on the earth, as it is written in the Law, 6 and 
Moses went into the midst of the cloud ; but when 
the door-keeper, Kemuel, (the angel that is set over 
the twelve thousand angels of destruction, that stand 
before the gates of destruction,) met him, he angrily 
asked, Whence, son of Amram, this desire of thine to 
pass into the place of fiery angels? Moses answered, 
I am not come of myself, but of the holy and blessed 
God, to receive the law, and carry it down to the 
Israelites. Notwithstanding this, the angel opposing 
his passage, Moses fell upon him and gave him such 
blows, that he wounded and overcame him, and would 
have destroyed him from the creation. Then went 
Moses straight into the firmament, where he met the 
angel Hadarniel. Now this angel is sixty thousand 
leagues higher than his companion, and with every 
word he utters, there issue from his mouth twelve 
thousand darts of light. He on beholding Moses, thus 
roughly accosted him : Son of Amram, what hadst thou 
to do in the place of the exalted saints ? Then Moses 
was struck with fear; but God pitied him, and rebuked 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES. 



391 



Hadarniel. Now -when Hadarnicl heard this, lie was 
grieved, and walked before Moses as a servant walks 
before his master, till he came to the fire of the angel 
Sandelson. Then spake he to Moses and said, Go 
back, for I dare not tarry lest the fire of Sandelson 
consume me. Then when Moses saw Sandelson, he 
quaked with exceeding fear, so that he w r as ready to 
fall from the cloud to the ground, and he prayed for 
mercy, and was heard for the love God bore to Israel ; 
so the Lord descended from the throne of his glory, 
and came down, and stood before Moses, till he had 
passed the fire of Sandelson ; and this is that which is 
spoken of in the Book of Exodus, c and the Lord 
passed before him/ When Moses was thus safely 
passed by Sandelson, he came towards Rig j on, the fiery 
river, which is set and kept in a flame by ministering 
angels, and in which they all bathe themselves; its 
source is under the throne of glory. 

" Presently after God led Moses from this river, they 
passed the angel Galieyer, who is surnamed Rasiel, at 
the sight of whom Moses trembled, but God protected 
him ; and afterwards he met a great company of angels 
of dreadful aspect, w T ho surrounded the throne of glory, 
and who were the most mighty of created beings; 
these angels opposed him by the fiery breath which 
issued in flames from their mouths, and were ready to 
consume him because he was come to cany away the 
law, which they wished to keep in heaven to them- 
selves ; but the Lord, at that moment, clothed Moses 
with the brightness of his glory, and said to him, Since 
they insist on keeping the law to themselves, give 
them an answer. 

" Then Moses showed them that the law was not ne- 
cessary for them as it was for men, inasmuch as it did 
not apply to their condition. Then the ministering 
spirits gave up their mistaken pretensions, and yielded 



£92 



THE TALMUD, 



to the words of Moses, praising the Lord. So the 
Lord taught Moses the law in ten days. 

" Then Moses descended again to the earth, full of 
terror and astonishment at the dreadful appearance 
which the angels made ; to wit, the angels of fear and 
of fire, and of quaking ; hut he forgot all in an hours 
time. And the Lord spake unto Jefifiah, the angel of 
the countenance, who, thereupon, delivered the law 
unto Moses in order and well secured, and all the an- 
gels were instantly his friends, and every one presented 
him with some medicine. They also communicated 
to him the division of names arising from every pa- 
rascha of the law, showing him likewise the usefulness 
of the law, and in what manner it was to be under- 
stood. For it is said, c Thou hast led captivity captive, 
thou hast received gifts for men also the angel of 
death delivered something unto him ; for it is written, 
' and he put on incense and made atonement for the 
sins of the people/ 

" This glorious use of the names arising from the use 
of each parascha of the law, was communicated by 
Jefifiah, the angel of the countenance, and Metatron, the 
prince of the law ; Moses communicated it to Aaron, 
he to Eleazar, and he to Phinehas, who was a good 
and excellent priest. Likewise all the law and all the 
prophets did Moses learn, in the seventy ways of the 
seventy languages, in forty days, but forgat it all in one 
hour : wherefore the Lord sent Jefifiah to instruct him 
again/' 

And here, before we proceed any further, we will 
just notice that this fable seems to have been conjoined 
with that of Jehoscha ben Levi, to form*, first, the 

* The ascent of Mohammed is first mentioned, because it 
is more evidently borrowed from the ascent of Moses, but 
that of Gangler is prior in time, as it appears to have existed 
before the era of lslamism. 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES. 



393 



ascent of Mohammed, and next the adventures of 
Gangler in the Northern mythology; of this hero it 
will be sufficient to say, that he went to the gods, and 
was by them instructed in all those fables which form 
the Edda, and which are supposed, in the work itself, 
to be spoken by him. 

The history of Surtur, as related by him, will be 
found to bear no slight analogy with that of Sandelson, 
and if it be divided into two parts, Surtur will be 
found in the one part to coincide with Sandelson, aud 
in the other with Gog and Magog. 

Another ascent of the same nature, is related of 
Woo-tsing-yen, and is given in the section on Chinese 
mythology ; this person, on his return to earth, became 
an eminent saint, and was transported to Paradise 
without tasting death. 

There are many more tales about Moses ; two will, 
however, be enough, by way of specimen. 

When an infant, and brought up as the son of Pha- 
raoh's daughter, he was frequently caressed by that 
monarch himself, who, on one occasion, having the 
infant Moses in his arms, was suddenly seized by the 
beard by him, and that so roughly, as to put him to 
much pain. Enraged at this, he commanded his 
daughter to put Moses to death, but she replied, " He is 
but an infant, he knows not the difference between a 
hot coal and a ruby/' " Try him," said the king, and the 
two were placed before him accordingly. Moses im- 
mediately took the hot coal and put it into his mouth, 
by which he ever after had an impediment in his 
speech. It is this, they say, to which he alluded 
w r hen he said, " I am slow of speech, and of a stam- 
mering tongue/' Another talmudic fiction says, that 
when he slew the Egyptian, who was striving with a 
Hebrew, he was seen and seized by some of the king's 
officers, tried, and brought on the scaffold to be deca- 



394 



THE TALMUD. 



pitated, but his head and neck became hard as ivory, 
so that the sword of the executioner rebounded from 
the stroke. 



CHAPTER III. 

TRADITIONS OF ABRAHAM AXD OTHER PATRIARCHS. 

The account of Abraham's conversion from idolatry, 
and, indeed, all the most interesting accounts of this 
eminent patriarch, are Moslem traditions as well as 
talmudic fables ; and, as we have already noticed them 
in our account of the Koran, it would be but a waste 
of time to insert them here. 

One circumstance which is not given by the Moslem 
writers is curious, and quite in the spirit of the Tal- 
mud. It is this : " When Abraham had left his fathers 
house, and was journeying wherever the spirit of the 
Lord led him, he came to a brook, and, being tired and 
heated, was about to bathe, but he was stopped by a 
voice from heaven, which said, Abraham ! Abraham ! 
and Abraham said, Here am I ; so the voice answered 
him out of the cloud, Abraham, behold I have taken 
thee from thy father s house to make of thee a great 
nation; go not into this water, for seven years ago, a 
carpenter dropped his axe in, and it hath not yet 
reached the bottom." Now, Abraham saw a bird wading 
about in the water," which led him to suppose the 
water not very deep, hut he never thought of consider- 
ing how long the bird's legs might be, and would have 
certainly been drowned had it not been for this mira- 
culous warning. 

Og, the king of Bashan, was the servant of Abra- 
ham, under the name of Eliezer, and as his story con- 



TRADITIONS OF ABRAHAM. 



395 



cerns Nimrod, Noah, and many other persons of note, 
it will be worth, some little notice. 

Og was the son of the angel Schamchiel, and the 
brother of Sihon, king of the Amorites ; hence these 
potentates derived their origin from the fallen angels. 
As to his size, some of the Talmud writers say, that 
the soles of his feet were forty miles long; he was born 
before the flood, and feeling convinced that so vast a 
being as himself could never be drowned by a deluge 
ever so extensive, he laughed at Noah, and derided his 
undertaking. When the flood came, and only reached 
up to Og's knees, finding that he still laughed, God 
caused the water to boil, and now the giant changed 
his tone, and gladly made peace with Noah. He was 
accordingly taken up and made use of as a covering 
for the ark ; Noah giving him his food out of the win- 
dow every day, — to wit, one thousand oxen, one thou- 
sand head of game, and one thousand barrels of liquor. 
In return for this, Og became servant to Noah, then 
to Ham, then to Nimrod, and Nimrod gave him to 
Abraham. 

This account is calculated to give us a very great 
idea of the capacity of the ark, as well as of the bulk 
of Og; indeed, he was accustomed to hide Abraham 
in the hollow of his hand, and one day, being severely 
rebuked for some negligence, one of his teeth fell out, 
by reason of his terror, and of this tooth did Abraham 
make an easy chair, and used it as such all the days of 
his life. 

Now if the history of the giant Bergelmer, as pre- 
served in the Edda, be compared with this talmudic 
legend of the deluge, it will appear that, as Surtur is a 
compound of Sandelson, Gog, and Magog ; so Bergel- 
mer is a compound of Noah and Og, the king of 
Bashan. While in the service of Abraham, he so well 
acquitted himself in his expedition to Bethuel, as to 



396 



THE TALMUD. 



obtain his freedom. " For when Laban, moved by 
covetousness, sought to slay him, he, by means of the 
holy word Shemhamphorasch, caused the camels to rise 
into the air, and he stood himself upon the camels, 
"which, when Laban saw, and his face beaming with 
brightness, he took him for Abraham, and said, Come 
in, thou blessed of the Lord, but meant all the while 
to slay him; so he prepared poison, and set it before 
Eliezer, but God, out of his great love to Abraham, 
changed the dishes, so Eliezer escaped, but Bethuel, 
who ate thereof, died." On his return to Abraham, 
his reward was freedom and a kingdom ; but no sooner 
was this monster placed on the throne of Bashan, than 
that hatred to Abraham and his seed which he derived 
from his demon father, broke out, and during that war 
of extermination which the children of Israel carried 
on against the Canaanites, Og was one of those who 
made the most desperate resistance. Some of his ex- 
ploits in the war, and the manner of his death, are 
thus told in the Talmud : 

- When Moses with the children of Israel sat down 
before the city of Edrei, " Moses said, To-morrow will 
we enter the city ; and on the morrow, before it was 
well light, before the people were come nigh unto the 
city, Moses opened his eyes, and beheld Og sat upon 
the walls of the city, but Moses wist not what it was ; 
and Moses said, Lo, now, the people have built a new 
tower in one night ; but the Lord said to Moses, It is 
Og whom thou seest, and his feet are eighteen ells in 
length. So Og went forth, and built sixty cities, and 
the smallest of them was sixty miles high." 

This remnant of the Antediluvian Nephilim, was, 
however, now approaching the termination of his 
career. His opposition to the Israelites was doomed to 
be fatal to himself. Inquiring what was the extent of 
the camp of Israel, and being told six miles, he " plucked 



TRADITIONS OF ABRAHAM. 



397 



up a rock six miles in extent, being minded with it to 
crush the camp of Israel, and put the same rock on his 
head. But God caused ants to come upon it, and they 
made a hole in it, so that it fell about his neck, for the 
hole was directly over his head ; and when he tried to 
remove it, God caused his teeth to grow into it, so that 
he could not disengage his neck. Now when Moses 
saw him thus encumbered, he took an axe, the handle 
whereof was ten ells long, and leaped ten ells high, 
and then, as Moses was himself ten ells in stature, he 
could reach to the height of thirty ells, so he struck 
Og on the ankle bone, and he died." 

After this, we shall be prepared for the story in the 
treatise Nidda, of a hunter, who, having pursued a 
buck into the shin bone of a man, which was lying on 
the ground, followed her for three miles inside, and 
then, not finding any end to the bone, returned disap- 
pointed. Nor shall we feel at all surprised at this, 
when we know that it was one of the bones of a leg of 
Og, the king of Bashan. 

None of these dimensions agree ; his foot must have 
been eighteen ells, forty miles, and one hundred and 
twenty yards long, according to these three different 
computations ; and the tooth out of which Abraham 
made an easy chair, was far too small for the size at- 
tributed to Og in the same tale. 

Mr. Deane, in his Treatise on Serpent Worship, sup- 
poses this sovereign to have been the Oghan or Ogmius- 
of the ancient Irish mythology. 



398 



THE TALMUD. 



CHAPTER IV. 

TRADITIONS OF SOLOMON". 

The tales of the Talmud continue, after the history of 
Og, the king of Bashan, to detail the same sort of ad- 
ventures, and to display the same blind and tasteless 
love of the marvellous. At the time of Solomon, a new 
asra opens itself, a new character is brought forward, 
on which all the poets and romancers of the East have 
ever loved to dwell. Pre-eminently wise, and highly 
favoured by the Supreme Being, he stood alone among 
the potentates of his age; his fame filled the civilized 
world, and princes from the furthest regions thronged 
round his throne, to offer their choicest treasures, to 
acknowledge his immeasurable superiority, and to learn 
those lessons of wisdom, which, like a stream of honey, 
fell from his inspired lips. On account of this uni- 
versal fame, the legends of other lands are as full of 
his power and greatness as those of Judaea. 

The peculiar circumstances in which Solomon was 
placed, and the fact of his wisdom being not the pro- 
duct of experience but the express gift of the Deity, 
cast round him an undefined awe. A great and learned 
man, is but a man after all; Solomon seemed some- 
what more; and the cold sternness of his character 
added to the distance which his greatness placed between 
him and other men. The influx of treasure, and of 
those luxuries which are ever the most costly, was so 
great, and their effects so remarkable, as to invest the 
earlier portion of his reign with the character rather 
of a gorgeous vision than of a story of real life. 
A prince so situated could not fail of becoming the 
object of many legends, and we wonder not at being 
told that fairies, demons, and spirits of every rank, 



TRADITIONS OF SOLOMON. 



399 



were subject to his sway; and, in the tales told of Iiim, 
we find him ruling the elements and their spiritual 
inhabitants with the same cold, proud, severe control 
which he exhibited among men. 

The real and the fabulous character of Solomon 
strikingly coincide, and there is no action related of 
him, either in history or tradition, that can be called 
amiable. His fall, and the dimmed glory of his reign 
before its close, the removal of God's favour, the com- 
plaints of his oppressed people, and the successful hos- 
tilities of his warlike neighbours, are passed over 
lightly in the pages of fable. He was a favourite hero, 
and the writers have been tender of his fame, and 
hence we find in such works only the bright side of 
his reign and eharacter. These legends have a cha- 
racter more like those of Persia and Arabia; they are 
poetical and connected, and therefore more worth pre- 
serving as compositions, though, because of a date 
more modern, they throw light rather on romance than 
on mythology. They are here introduced because they 
occupy not a small part of the Talmud. The mode by 
which he became possessed of his celebrated signet ring 
by which he governed the spirits, and the tale how, 
by magic, he built the temple, and how, for his sins, 
he was cast out of his kingdom, and after three years 
restored, are so curious, that we shall make no apology 
for inserting them. 

This signet ring came down to him in a cloud, and, 
having the mystic word Shemhamphorasch engraved 
upon it, enabled the wearer to rule all spirits. Pos- 
sessed of this talisman, Solomon summoned the spirits 
of good and evil, and commanded them to aid him in 
building the temple : they told him that in order that 
the stones might be split without iron tools, it 
would be necessary for him to obtain the wonderful 
insect called Shamir, at the approach of which that 



400 



THE TALMUD. 



which was desired would divide just as was required. 
4 'By this," said they, "Moses made the tunic and breast- 
plate." There was but one being who knew where this 
Shamir was, and this was Ashmedai, the prince of the 
devils. After a long search, Ashmedai was found, and 
Benaiah, who acted as provost-marshal, fell upon Ash- 
medai, as he had done upon Joab, and, after great 
resistance, bound him; the demon, however, was cun- 
ningly first intoxicated, and then brought bound to 
Solomon. When the fumes of the wine evaporated, 
he informed Solomon that the Shamir was entrusted 
to the angel of the sea, and gave directions how it 
might be obtained. In this Benaiah was also success- 
ful, and now possessed of this insect, (which, to increase 
its importance, was fabled to have been created on the 
first Sabbath,) aided by the powers of light, and served, 
though reluctantly, by those of darkness, the zenith of 
Solomons glory drew nigh; he built that sublime and 
stupendous temple upon which the world gazed in 
wonder, and even Deity condescended to dwell visibly 
within it. 

And now comes a tale which will indeed vie with 
any of the Arabian Nights Entertainments. In the 
treatise Emek Hammelek is preserved the story which 
I now quote. " Daily did the king convey himself at 
noon into the firmament, to hear the secrets of the 
universe from the spirits Asa and Asael, and no fear 
was on him. At length did Ashmedai obtain liberty, 
and persuade Solomon to grant him possession of the 
ring which had the name Shemhamphorasch engraved 
upon it. No sooner was the fiend possessed of this 
talismanic signet, which had been to Solomon the 
instrument of his supernatural power, than he changed 
his tone, and, dilating himself to an immense magnitude, 
swallowed the too-late repentant Solomon. Spread- 
ing his broad wings, he flew two hundred leagues in a 



TRADITIONS OF SOLOMOX. 



4*1 



moment of time, and spat out the king in a distant and 
idolatrous country. He then took the signet and flung 
it into the sea, where it was swallowed by a fish. 
Before he left Solomon, he told him that these judg- 
ments had been inflicted upon him because he had 
broken three commandments, and had multiplied unto 
himself horses, wives, and treasure, which he had been 
forbidden as king of Israel to do/' 

Ashmedai now, in likeness of Solomon, returned to 
Jerusalem, and sat on the throne of Israel for three 
years ; (the rabbis admit that it is impossible to say 
which were the three years in which the devil ruled 
over Israel, while Solomon was an exile and a wan- 
derer.) In the course of the deposed king's pere- 
grinations, he passed through the land of the Ammon- 
ites, begging from door to door, till he came to 
Maschkemen; here he was hired as an assistant to a 
pastry-cook, and was soon, for his skill in the culinary 
art, transferred as an assistant to the chief cook in the 
king's palace. The skill which had procured him 
entrance, soon obtained him advancement, and he 
gained the favour of the king. The chief cook was 
obliged to yield to a superior in gastronomic science, 
and the once mighty monarch of Jerusalem was made 
cook to a petty tributary prince. At length, Naama, 
the king's daughter, saw Solomon, and soon became 
deeply enamoured. Her passion was discovered, and, 
as may be expected, met with no small opposition. 
Solomons story was, of course, disbelieved, and though 
Naama was allowed to become his wife, they were both 
driven into the desert, and left without food, tent, or 
water. Aided by unseen spirits, and supported by 
mutual love, they reached a city by the sea coast, and 
Solomon became a fisherman. 

The denouement of the story is quite according to 
rule, and will easily be anticipated. Solomon catches 

2 d 



402 



THE TALMUD. 



the fish that had swallowed his ring, and again recovers 
his power and kingdom. After the conviction and 
expulsion of Ashmedai, he sends for the king of 
Ammon, and proves his identity with the late chief 
cook, by introducing Naama to her father as queen of 
Israel. 

This tale has been repeated in so many legends, that 
it cannot be other than interesting to see it in its ori- 
ginal shape. One of the most pleasing copies of it is 
that given in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. It 
is that in which a young man is carried to a city of 
enchantment, and marries Labe, the Circe of the place. 
After defeating her plots against him, he turns her 
into a mare, and takes her to a distance ; there she is 
restored to her own shape, and, by the assistance of 
her mother, turns the tables upon the young prince, 
and changes him into an owl ; but, after some adven- 
tures, he escapes their vengeance. 



CHAPTER Y. 

OF THE STATE AFTER DEATH, 

" When a man is carried to his grave," say^the rabbis, 
" all his works which he hath done go before him, and 
if he hath not kept the law, three heralds, one before, 
one on the right hand, and one on the left, proclaim, — 
c This man hath been rebellious, it were better for him 
that he had never been born/ Then come his evil 
works, and trample upon him. The angel Duma also 
riseth, and with him, the angels under his command, 
who go to perform the Chibbut Hakkefer. Then the 
soul entereth into the body, and standeth upright; 
then cometh the angel with a chain half of iron and 



STATE AFTER DEATH. 



403 



half of fire, (a red hot chain,) and with this he beateth 
the deceased, and the first time he beateth him behold 
all his joints are torn asunder; at the second beating 
they are scattered hither and thither, and the angels 
come and set them together again. The third time he 
beateth the transgressor, he falleth to dust and ashes." 

Rabbi Meir says that the righteous, as well as the 
wicked, suffer this judgment, and even infants at the 
breast. " Now there are," say the same authorities, 
"seven judgments for the wicked. The first, when 
the soul departeth from the body; the second, when 
the evil deeds of the dead go before him and accuse 
him; the third, the laying of the body in the grave; 
the fourth, the Chibbut Hakkefer; the fifth, the judg- 
ment of the worms, for when the wicked hath been 
laid in the grave three days, then the body is ripped 
up, and becometh a prey to destruction ; for thirty days 
he receiveth judgment on his eyes, his hands, his feet, 
&c, which have committed iniquity ; and all this time 
the soul remaineth with the decaying body, and thus 
the gnawing of the worm is as painful as the sticking 
of a needle in the flesh, when alive/' 

All these are also tenets of Mohammed, which he 
borrowed from the Jews, and among both people are 
some very curious legends of those who have heard the 
conversation of the dead. One will be here given from 
the Talmud. " A certain just man relieved a poor 
man, and gave him alms, whereat his wife being greatly 
offended, he went and tarried all night among the 
tombs ; and it came to pass while he tarried that the 
angel opened his ears, and he heard the conversation 
of the dead; and one young girl said unto another that 
was buried beside her, Come, and let us roam about, 
and hearken behind the veil what punishment will 
come upon the world. Then, said the other, I cannot, 
I am buried beneath a covering of reeds. But go thou, 

2 d 2 



404 



THE TALMUD. 



and tell me what thou nearest. Then went the other, 
and came back, and said, Behold I have hearkened 
behind the veil, and I have heard that this shall come 
to pass: that the hail shall destroy all that is sowed in 
the former rain. So that just man went and sowed in 
the latter rain, and his crop was not destroyed like 
that of his neighbours. Wherefore, the next year, on 
the same night, he went again, and listened, and heard 
as before, and they said that the fire should destroy all 
that was sowed in the latter rain; so that just man 
sowed in the former rain, and his crop was saved, but 
the fire burned the crop of his neighbours. So his 
wife said, Why hath all the corn been destroyed these 
two years save thine? and he told her. And after- 
wards there was a quarrel between this woman and 
the mother of that girl who had been buried under a 
covering of reeds, and the wife of that just man said, 
Come, and I will show thee thy daughter who is under 
a covering of reeds. And afterwards, when on the 
same night, as before, the just man went and tarried 
all night among the tombs, one girl said to the other, 
as aforetimes; but she who lay under the reeds, said, 
Nay, my companion, but let us remain at peace, for 
the things which have passed between us have been 
heard by the living." 

As, with the exception of this last story, this chap- 
ter turns upon the state of the wicked, we will add to 
it the rabbinical description of hell. It is divided into 
seven parts, like that of the Mohammedans, which was 
copied from it, each part containing its peculiar inha- 
bitants, its angel to guard it, and its appropriate gate. 
It may just be observed in passing, that though there 
are many Israelites said by the rabbis to be in hell, 
such as Jeroboam, Ahab, Absalom, Korah, and others, 
yet over these the fire has no power, because they were 
descended from Abraham: indeed, a consanguinity 



STATE AFTER DEATH. 



405 



ever so remote with the children of Israel, if it can be 
fairly traced, is sufficient to save the most notorious 
offenders. Thus Doeg, the Edomite, we find in hell, 
but exempt from punishment. 

One or two more passages will be sufficient on this 
subject. u In the lowest part of hell is Avaddon; this 
is a dark dwelling ; therein floweth the poison of ser- 
pents, foul and corrupted, and therein float the souls of 
the damned/' This is almost word for word the same 
with the Scandinavian Nastrond ; but there is a place 
described in the great Jalcut Rubeni, in which all the 
horrors of hell are multiplied in the manner of the 
Koran. "Scheol," says that treatise, "is half fire and half 
hail, and in it are fourteen rivers, to wit, seven of hail 
and seven of fire, in each division. Now there are 
seven divisions, each one sixty times larger than the 
preceding. In each division are seven thousand ca- 
verns; in each cavern seven thousand clefts; in each 
cleft seven thousand scorpions; each scorpion with 
seven stings; and each sting as bitter as seven thou- 
sand barrels of gall. In this are punished the wicked, 
some for one period, some for another; he who causeth 
shame to his neighbour is to be punished in hell for 
an hour and a half." Others are punished for twelve - 
months, but it is a matter of doubt with them whether 
any are punished for ever. 

There is one tradition which shows that the rabbis 
were willing to take the doctrines, as well as the de- 
scriptions, of the New Testament, if, with a little 
alteration, they could make them seem original. " At 
the end of every Sabbath, the judges behold whose sins 
are forgiven, to the end that such persons may not 
again be cast into hell; and he whose sins are forgiven 
is conducted by Elias to those with whom he is to re- 
side in Paradise, and when any of the righteous happen 
to transgress in some things, for which, at the end of 



406 



TIJE TALMUD. 



the Sabbath, they may be again cast into punishment, 
Elias protects them, for he laketh upon himself their 
punishment. But on the Sabbath, those in hell do 
rest, even as Rabbi Akkiva knew, when he talked with 
that wicked man Turnus Rufus. 6 Get thee/ said he, 
c to the diviners and soothsayers, for on every other 
day do they work wonders, but on the Sabbath-day 
they work them not. Get thee to thy fathers tomb, 
for he being a wicked man, is tormented with fire, and 
the smoke ariseth from his tomb, but on the Sabbath 
none ariseth, for then he hath rest/ 

" So Turnus Rufus went and saw even as the rabbi 
had said. So he went and called the necromancers to 
take from the tomb his father, and to make his spirit 
return to him again; and he asked his father, 6 How 
art thou become a Jew? thou didst not in thy life-time 
keep the Sabbath, but now thou observest among the 
dead/ Then answered his father, ' My son, on the 
Sabbath we have rest ; on the eve of the Sabbath there 
cometh a voice from the heaven, and sayeth, Blessed 
be the Sabbath! let the wicked rest. But when the 
Sabbath is past, the voice cometh again, saying, Cursed 
be the wicked, because they obeyed not the command- 
ment of the Lord! So the angel that is over us, and 
that had ceased to scourge us when the Sabbath began, 
doth now scourge us again with fire/ " 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE RABBINICAL HEAVEN". 

Moses, in his ascent to heaven to fetch the Law, was 
so much embarrassed by fears for his personal safety, 
that he had no time to make observations on the nature 
of the places through which he passed. It was re- 



THE RABBINICAL HEAVEN. 



407 



served for a saint of later times to map out, as it were, 
Paradise, and to give us a full description of the delights 
therein to be found. Accordingly, the Talmud says, 
" Our rabbins of blessed memory observe that Jehosha 
ben Levi was a perfectly righteous man, and that when 
he was about to die, the Holy Creator said to the angel 
of death, Comply with all that he desireth. Then said 
the angel, Jehosha, the time draweth nigh when thou 
art to be gathered to thy fathers ; I will grant thee all 
that thou requirest. Then Rabbi Jehosha said, I be- 
seech thee show me my seat in Paradise. Then the 
angel said, Come, and I will show it thee ; but Jehosha 
said, Give me thy sword, that thou surprise me not 
therewith. So the angel gave him the sword. Then 
went they till they came to the walls of Paradise, and 
when they came there the angel lifted up Jehosha that 
he might see over the wall, but he leaped over, and so 
got into Paradise. So the angel took Jehosha by the 
skirt, and cried, saying, Come out; but Jehosha swore, 
by the great name, that he would not come out, and 
the angel had no power to enter in. Then the minis- 
tering angels presented themselves before the throne of 
glory, and said, Lord, thou seest this rabbi, and how 
he hath taken his seat in Paradise by force; then the 
Lord said, Go now, and see if he hath ever broken his 
oath ; so they said, No, he never hath broken an oath 
all the days of his life. Then said the Lord, Neither 
shall he do so now. 

" So when the angel of death saw that Jehosha was 
to remain in Paradise, he obtained back his sword, and 
the angel said, See thou tell Rabbi Gamaliel a true 
account of what place Paradise is. So Rabbi Jehosha 
searched out Paradise, and he found there seven houses 
or dwellings, each one hundred and twenty thousand 
miles square ; the first house fronts the first gate of Para- 
dise, and is inhabited by those who of their own accord 



403 



THE TALMUD. 



embraced the Jewish faith, not having been brought up 
therein. The walls thereof are of glass, and the timber 
work of cedar. Over them is the prophet Obadiah. The 
second house fronts the second gate of Paradise; the 
walls are of fine silver, and the roof of cedar. This is 
the habitation of those who have repented; and Ma- 
nasseh, the son of king Hezekiah, is placed over them. 
The third house is opposite to the third gate of Para- 
dise; it is built of silver and fine gold. In it are all 
the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David, 
Moses, and Aaron. All the furniture of this house is 
of fine gold, and adorned with jewels. 

" Then Jehosha asked, For w T hom are these things 
prepared? But David replied, For the children of the 
world, from among whom thou earnest. And Jehosha 
asked, Are there any Gentiles here? and David said, 
No ! for God giveth them a reward in their life for their 
good deeds, but afterwards they are tormented in hell; 
likewise, also, he punisheth the evil deeds of the chil- 
dren of Israel on earth, but after their death they obtain 
the life to come, and this is the meaning of these words, 
He repayeth them that hate him, but the righteous 
hath life everlasting. 

" The fourth house fronts the fourth gate of heaven. 
It is built beautifully as the first man w r as made. The 
timbers are of olive wood; in it dwell the perfectly 
righteous. The fifth house is built of silver and fine 
gold, of precious stones, and of crystal; through the 
midst thereof flows the river Gihon. The frame-work 
is of gold and silver, with an odour far exceeding that 
of the woods of Lebanon. There are beds of gold and 
silver, of spice and blue cloth, and of fine scarlet, which 
w r as w r oven by Eve ; couches also of crimson silk and fine 
linen, and of cloth of goats' hair woven by angels. In 
this house dwellcth the Messiah, the son of David, and 
Elias of blessed memory; and therein is an apartment 



THE RABBINICAL HEAVEN. 



409 



made of wood from Mount Lebanon, with pillars of 
silver, and on the floor a carpet of scarlet. Here 
dwelleth the Messiah, the beloved of the daughters of 
Jerusalem; it is inlaid with love, and there Elias of 
blessed memory lifteth up the head of the Messiah, and 
comforteth him, saying, Be at ease, the end is at hand 
when thou shalt redeem Israel. Thither also, every 
second and fifth day, every chief man of Israel goeth; 
David and Solomon, Moses and Aaron, and all the kings 
of Israel, go thither, and say unto him after the same 
manner. And when Jehosha approached, the Messiah 
said unto him, What do the children of Israel? Then 
said the rabbi, They are in hourly expectation of thy 
coming; whereat the Messiah cried aloud and wept. 

" In the sixth house dwell those who walked in the 
way of the commandment; and in the seventh those 
who died of sickness on account of the sins of the 
Israelites." 

Now there are, it seems, two Paradises. One the 
upper, which has just been described; and a lower one, 
which Habbi J ehosha thus speaks of : — " There are in 
Paradise two gates of rubies, and over each six hun- 
dred thousand angels, each of whom hath his face 
shining like the sun in his strength ; and when one of 
the righteous arriveth here, they clothe him with eight 
garments made of the clouds of glory, and on his head 
they place two crowns, one of pearls and precious 
stones, and one of fine gold, and putting into his hand 
a branch of the myrrh plant, they say unto him, Go 
eat thy bread with joy. They then conduct him to a 
spring, on the banks of which grow eight hundred dif- 
ferent kinds of myrrh and roses. To each righteous 
man is assigned a tent or canopy, answering to his 
degree of honour. Through these tents flow four 
rivers that have their source in the spring of roses, and 
over each tent a vine bearing pearls, each glistening like 



410 



THE TALMUD. 



the planet Venus. There every righteous man in three 
watches suffereth three changes ; in the morning he be- 
cometh a child, and goeth where children are, and re- 
joiceth as they rejoice; and at noon he becometh a 
youth and rejoice th where and how youth rejoice; and 
at eventide he becometh an aged man, and goeth into 
the assembly of aged men, and rejoiceth in their joy. 
The meanest of them are like Joseph and like Johanan, 
for the path of the just is as the shining light ; and the 
rivers are of wine, and of milk, and of honey, and of 
balsam. Their tents are adorned with the sun, the 
moon, and the stars, and the breezes that shake the 
branches of the tree of life shed its fragrance all over 
the gardens. On it are fruit which have four hundred 
different tastes, and under it sit the disciples of the 
sages divided by a curtain of light." 

This book is more remarkable for being the source 
from which at least half Islamism was drawn, than 
for its connexion with other systems. The traditions 
from which the Gentiles formed their schemes of cos- 
mogony and mythology were much older than any con- 
tained in the Talmud; they were many of them ante- 
rior to the time of Moses, and handed down in a state 
of increasing corruption from the survivors of the flood. 
It will not, therefore, now be worth while further to in- 
vestigate the Talmud, especially as Lightfoot, Buxtorf, 
and Stehelin have done so to a very great extent. 



41 L 



Section XII. 

THE CONNEXION AND COMMON ORIGIN OF ALL 
SYSTEMS OP FALSE WORSHIP. 



Introductory Chapter. 

That man, in his present state, is not the being whom 
his Maker pronounced to be very good, is a fact which 
the depravity of our own hearts, as well as the corrup- 
tions of society, set forth in the strongest light. That 
knowledge of God which was at first bestowed upon 
Adam, and continued to a great extent even after the 
veil of a carnal nature was drawn between him and 
his Creator, soon became neglected, and, consequently, 
corrupted, as sin advanced in its devastating course. 

About five centuries after the creation, even during 
the life of Adam, we are led to believe, from the short 
notices found in the sacred records, idolatry commenced 
to be practised. Tradition speaks more clearly, and 
with great probability on this awfully interesting sub- 
ject ; and^the remarks which Maimonides, one of the 
most learned of Jewish rabbis, has left on this topic, 
are too important to be omitted : " In the days of 
Enos, the son of Seth, the sons of Adam erred with 
great error, and their error was this ; and the counsel 
of the wise men became brutish, and Enos himself 
was of them that erred; they said, 6 Forasmuch as God 
hath created these stars and spheres to govern the 
world, and hath set them on high, and imparted honour 
unto them, and they are ministers that minister before 



412 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



him, it is meet that men should laud and glorify and 
give them honour ; for this is the will of God, that we 
magnify and honour whomsoever be magnifieth and 
honoureth, even as a king would honour them that 
stand before him, and this is the honour of the king 
himself/ When this thing was come up into their 
hearts, thay began to build temples unto the stars, and 
to offer sacrifice unto them, and to laud and glorify 
them with words, and to worship before them with 
words, that they might, in their evil opinion, obtain 
favour of their Creator. And this was the root of idola- 
try ; for, in process of time, there stood up false pro- 
phets among the sons of Adam ; which said, that God 
had commanded and said unto them, AVorship such a 
star, or all the stars, and so sacrifice unto them thus 
and thus ; and build a temple for it, and make an 
image of it, that all the people, men, women, and 
children, may worship it ; and the false prophet showed 
then the image that he had feigned out of his own 
heart, and said that it was the image of that star 
"which was made known to him by prophecy ; and they 
began after this manner to make images in temples 
and under trees, and on the tops of mountains and 
hills, and assembled together and worshipped them ; 
and this thing was spread through all the world, to 
serve images w r ith services different one from another, 
and to sacrifice unto and worship them. So, in pro- 
cess of time, the glorious and fearful name was forgot- 
ten out of the mouth of all living, and out of their 
knowledge, and they acknowledged him not. And 
there was found on earth no people that knew aught 
save images of wood and stone, and temples of stone 
which they built; which they had been trained up 
from their childhood to worship and serve, and to 
swear by their names, and the wise men that were 
among them. The priests, and such like, thought 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



413 



there was no God save the stars and spheres, for whose 
sake and in whose likeness they made these images ; 
but as for the Rock Everlasting, there was no man that 
did acknowledge him or know him, save a few persons 
in the world, as Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, and 
Heber ; and in this way did the world walk and con- 
verse, till that pillar of the world Abraham, our father, 
was born.' " 

In accordance with the doctrine laid down by Mai- 
monides, we find, that some of the most eminent scho- 
lars who have treated on this subject, have referred all 
worship to that of the sun. This was the theory of 
Faber, of Bryant, and, with a little variation, of Deane, 
who, in his Treatise on Serpent Worship, has thrown a 
new and valuable light on the subject. 

But if every system of ancient mythology had one 
origin, they must have had one birth-place, and we 
may, therefore, trace them all to the East. This is 
really the case, and as they diverged from the cradle 
of superstition, so we find them varying more and 
more, and becoming more and more mixed with the 
inventions of poetry, the discoveries of philosophy, and 
the records of history. To these every age added, so 
that at last the original system was so enveloped in 
more modern additions, that it was at last scarcely 
perceptible, and, in many cases, totally lost sight of. 

Among the various solutions which have been given 
of the origin of Pagan idolatry, not the least curious is 
that given by the writer of an anonymous work, " De 
diversorum Populorum, numinibus Cultuque." " But 
man," says this author, " forgat God, and worshipped 
all those things which he considered great and glorious; 
first, because they were above him, and he reverenced 
them ; next, because they were dreadful, and he feared 
them ; but, because storms, and mountains, and light- 
ning were not easily supposed endowed with sensa- 



414 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



tion and volition, he feigned nnto himself that there 
were lofty, invisible spirits presiding over all these, and 
bearing rule by reason of their might in the universe. 
So when he had thus departed from the true faith, 
and, instead of one true God, did adore many false 
gods, deeming them, altogether, such as himself; he did 
greatly deliberate about what were the gods employed. 

" Then arose poets who declared, ' What is so delight- 
ful as war ? Do not all men war one with another, 
delighting therein, and stirring up their spirits to 
fights and victory ? Thus also do the gods ; they too 
fight valiantly/ But, against whom could these the 
immortal gods fight ? Then answered the poets, and 
feigned giants, and evil spirits, genii and titans. Now 
these brought evil upon mankind, whom the gods 
loved, and afflicted them with all kinds of plagues, 
casting fear upon them, and sought also to draw them 
from their allegiance, thus counteracting the will of 
the ever-blessed gods ; and this is the cause why the 
gods fight, and these are the enemies against whom 
they fight. But when these enemies did prevail, not 
against the gods but against man, they gave rewards to 
such as exceeded in wickedness, communicating unto 
them a part of their own power, and made them rulers 
over the elements, and over trees, and stones, and 
drugs, and the bodies of men ; and these became 
wizards, witches, sorcerers, and enchanters, having 
great power and being greatly depraved. And because 
they believed that the soul was immortal, and that 
after death it wandered hither and thither about the 
world; hence came divers legends, touching spectres 
and apparitions, some of which things may indeed be 
found in the scriptures of truth, but others are the in- 
ventions of subtle men, and all so changed by the long- 
lapse of time, that we know not whereunto it was like 
in the beginning." 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



415 



There is more ingenuity and more reflection displayed 
in these few words than in many a learned quarto, but 
yet it is too regular, too systematic, to be altogether 
true, though the ideas upon which it is founded, arc 
certainly correct. 

Another account is given by that celebrated but in- 
famous character, Petronius Arbiter, 5 and I give it as 
much as a specimen of his writing, as an ingenious 
version of the origin of idolatry. 

The works of Petronius are happily alike untrans- 
lated and untranslatable, but among the foulness of his 
conceptions, there are sometimes gleams of that intel- 
lect which gained him the name of a philosopher, and 
of that elegance of which he was called arbiter. I 
offer a poetical translation : 

Fear made the first divinities on earth, 

The sweeping flames of heaven ; the mined tower, 

Scathed by its stroke. The softly setting sun, 

The slow dechning of the silver moon, 

And its recovered beauty. Hence the signs 

Known through the world, and the swift changing year, 

Circling divided in its varied months. 

Hence rose the error. Empty folly bade 

The wearied husbandman to Ceres bring 

The first fair honours of his harvest fields, 

To gird the brow of Bacchus with the palm, 

And taught how Pales, 'mid the shepherd bands, 

Stood and rejoiced ; how Neptune in the flood 

Plunged deep, and ruled the ever-roaring tide ; 

How Vallas reigned o'er earth's stupendous caves 

Mightily. He who vowed and he who reaped 

With eager contest, made their gods themselves. 

Now, in all these several solutions there is much that 
is true, but none of them reach the whole truth. The 
truth is, that all the mythological schemes which have 
appeared in the world, are but corruptions of those tra- 
ditions which were handed down from the times of the 
patriarchs, and which, prior to the era of Moses, were 



416 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



the only relics of divine revelation. In order to demon- 
strate this, we must first show that every system is in- 
trinsically alike ; the varieties of clime and of history 
may array it in a different dress in different lands, but 
the basis is universally the same. To use the elegant 
illustration of Mr. W. J. Thorns*, it is the same with the 
traditions of a country as it is with its natives ; there 
may be differences of feature and expression, but take 
away that which is external, and the skeletons will be 
found all alike. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF COSMOGONY. 

Referring the reader back to the introductory chap- 
ter on Egyptian mythology for an account of the prin- 
ciples on which an inquiry like the present should be 
conducted, we shall proceed to remark that the first 
great principle of religious worship is found to have 
been invariably inculcated in all nations, from the most 
barbarous to the most refined. This one principle, is 
the acknowledgment of a Supreme Being infinite, and 
omnipotent, the creator of all things, and who will 
judge all men. It is not less extraordinary, that of 
this one supreme God, they have never attempted any 
images or pictures, but have declared him to be spiritual, 
invisible, and too holy to be approached but by media- 
tors. An idea of this nature, which is by no means 
an obvious one, when found in China, in India, 
in Egypt ; among the philosophers of Greece and 
Borne; in Africa, in the North, and in Mexico; could 



* Lays and Legends of different Nations. 



OF COSMOGONY. 



417 



not be so widely spread by a mere fortuitous coinci- 
dence of ideas in those nations ; when, therefore, we 
find other points of resemblance equally strong, and 
still less likely to be the fruit of mere chance, we shall 
not hesitate to say that the more modern and recent, 
was borrowed from the more ancient system, and the 
nearest to the spring of fable. The readiest way to 
show this, will be to take the pagan cosmogonies one 
by one, and show in what manner they correspond 
with that given in our Scriptures, and we cannot better 
commence than with that of the Chaldseans. Their 
knowledge of the creation, was said to be derived from 
an amphibious monster, called Oannes, who, like the 
fabled merman, was depicted with the body of a man, 
terminating in the tail of a fish. By day he ascended 
from the caves of the Red Sea, and, assuming a human 
voice, taught the multitudes on the shore ; but at night 
be again sunk to the recesses of the deep. There was a 
time, he said, when all things were darkness, and water, 
and confusion. In the midst of this chaotic fluid existed 
various monsters, of horrid forms, and over them pre- 
sided the demon giantess, Omoroca. Belus, the one 
god of the Chakhcans, at length proceeded to the work 
of creation ; annihilated all the monstrous animals of 
the deep, and having slain Omoroca, formed from her 
body the earth, and from her skull the arch of heaven. 
He next divided the darkness from the light, the earth 
from the sea, and placed in the heavens the starry host, 
the sun and the moon. The human species was created 
out of the dust of the earth, mixed with the water of 
the ocean; this was the work of inferior deities, and 
man was endowed with intellect, and became a par- 
taker of the divine reason. Oannes, was, however, 
careful to tell them, that all the part of his doctrine 
which related to Omoroca, was to be understood, not 

2 E 



418 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



literally, but figuratively, and by this admission, he 
made his system almost the same with that of Moses. 

We find in this fragment, a statement of a watery 
chaos, — of the separation by divine power, of earth, 
from sea, and of darkness from light, — we find the 
divine intellect recognised in man, and the divine 
power, in the creation of the heavenly bodies. Now, 
the coincidence of this tale of Omoroca with the fable 
of Ymir, the giant in the Edda, is so striking, that it 
will but need the re-perusal of the latter, to convince 
the most inattentive reader; and did there remain a 
doubt, it can be shown that the Northern system was 
carried by its founder from the neighbourhood of the 
Chaldesans, of which vicinity he was a native, to the 
North. 

Odin, according to Snorro and Torfseus, came from the 
countries eastward of the Caspian Sea ; he was the king of 
the Ases, and he introduced the worship of a god named 
Odin, with whom he soon became himself confounded. 
This account is indirectly, though powerfully, con- 
firmed by passages in the works of Strabo, Pliny, and 
Ptolemy. But the coincidence of mythology in so 
singular a particular, is a proof convincing enough. In 
the North, however, by a very natural transition, that 
was taken literally, which the more acute and cultivated 
Chaldaeans took only in an allegorical sense. 

The next cosmogony to which we shall turn our 
attention, is that of the Egyptians; and without going 
over again any ground which we have already occupied, 
we may remark that there were two cosmogonies pre- 
vailing in that country. One, the atheistical system of 
the shepherd kings — the other, that which they received 
from Thoth, or Hermes Trismegistus; in a book ascribed 
to the latter, occurs the following passage : — " In the 
beginning, there was a boundless darkness in the abyss, 
but water, and an intelligent ethereal spirit, acted with 



OF COSMOGONY. 



4J9 



divine power, in the midst of chaos. Then a holy 
light issued forth, and the elements were compacted 
together, with sand of a moist substance. Lastly, the 
whole frame of productive nature was by all the gods 
distributed in proper order." 

Faber, in his Bampton Lectures, commenting upon 
this interesting passage, remarks, that not only are the 
events here related, the same, and in the same order, 
with those related by Moses, but that the whole is 
attributed to a spirit which brooded over it, as we find 
in Genesis : " And the Spirit of God moved upon the 
face of the waters." 

" It is not impossible," he says, " that as the 
Egyptians learned their atheistical scheme from the 
royal shepherds, so they may have received a correc- 
tion to it from those other shepherds, who are said by 
Manetho to have likewise dwelt as strangers in the 
country, and who, from his description of them, were 
plainly the children of Israel. Moses was learned in 
all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and as he frequented 
the schools of their philosophers, so we may easily con- 
ceive that in his turn, he afforded to them some portion 
of his own divine and better wisdom/' 

The Phoenician shepherds, who were an eminent 
branch of the daring house of Cush, had left their 
early settlements by the banks of the Indus and the 
Ganges. They, while they encouraged only their own 
atheistical worship, (that of Buclha, which has been 
fully discussed,) could not prevent the truth from occa- 
sionally breaking through the darkness even of their 
creed, and while they despised the worship and de- 
stroyed the idols of the Egyptians, they have left on 
record, proofs that there were those among them, who 
saw through the folly of worshipping a man like Budha, 
and who knew that the principle of Egyptian mytho- 
logy was the worship of the one ever-living God. 

2 E 2 



420 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



It is a fact, and one which the Budhuists of the 
East try in vain to invalidate, that tradition gives to 
Budha an Ethiopian origin ; and accordingly, he is 
frequently represented with a countenance indicating, 
by its lips, nose, and hair, his African descent. 

Passing over the systems of Persia and Phoenicia, 
of which we have already given a detailed account, 
we turn to that of India, and extract from the Insti- 
tutes of Menu, the following account of the creation : 
" Menu sat reclined, with his attention fixed on one 
object, the Supreme God, when the divine sages 
approached him, and, after mutual salutations in due 
form, delivered the following address : Deign, sove- 
reign ruler, to apprize us of the sacred laws in their 
order ; for thou, Lord, and thou only among mortals, 
knowest the true sense, the first principle, and the pre- 
scribed ceremonies of this universal, supernatural veda, 
unlimited in extent, and unequalled in authority/ He 
whose powers were measureless, being thus requested 
by the great sages, saluted them all with reverence, 
and gave them a comprehensive answer, saying, c Be 
it heard ! This universe existed only in the first 
divine idea yet unexpanded, as if involved in darkness, 
imperceptible, undefinable, undiscoverable by reason, 
and undiscovered by revelation. Then the sole self- 
existing power, himself undiscerned, but making this 
world discernible, appeared with undiminished glory, 
dispelling the gloom. He whom the mind alone can 
perceive, whose presence eludes the external organs, 
who has no visible parts, who exists from eternity; even 
He, the soul of all beings, whom no being can compre- 
hend, shone forth in person. He having willed to pro- 
duce various beings from his own divine substance, first 
with a thought created the waters, and placed in them 
a productive seed'; the seed became an egg, bright as 
gold, blazing like the luminary with a thousand beams ; 



OF COSMOGONY. 



421 



and in that egg lie was born himself in the form of 
Brahma, the great forefather of all spirits. The waters 
were called Nara, because they are the first production 
of Nara, or the Spirit of God; and since the}' were his 
first ayana, or place of motion, he is thence named 
Narayana, or Moving on the Waters. From that which 
is the first cause, not the object of sense, existing every- 
where in substance, not existing to our perception, 
without beginning or end, was formed the divine male 
famed in all worlds under the appellation of Brahma. 
In that egg the great power sat inactive a whole year 
of the Creator, at the close of which, by his thought 
alone, he caused the egg to divide itself, and from its 
two divisions he framed the earth beneath, and the 
heaven above. In the midst, he placed the subtle 
ether, the eight regions, and the permanent receptacle 
of waters. From the supreme soul he drew forth 
mind, existing substantially, though unperceived by 
sense ; immaterial and before mind, or the reasoning 
power, he produced consciousness, the internal monitor, 
the ruler. Thus, having at once pervaded with emana- 
tions from the supreme Spirit the minutest portions of 
six principles, immensely operative, consciousness, and 
the five perceptions, he framed all creatures. lie, too, 
first assigned to all creatures, distinct names, distinct 
acts, and distinct occupations. He, the supreme ruler, 
created an assemblage of inferior deities, with divine 
attributes and pure souls, and a number of genii exqui- 
sitely delicate, and he prescribed the sacrifice ordained 
from the beginning, lie gave being to time, and the 
divisions of time; to the stars also, and to the planets ; 
to rivers, oceans, and mountains, to level plains and 
uneven valleys ; for he willed the existence of all those 
created things. For the sake of distinguishing actions, 
he made a total difference between right and wrong, 
and inured these sentient creatures to pleasure and 



422 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSIIIP. 



pain, cold and heat, and other opposite sensations. He 
whose powers are incomprehensible, having thus created 
both me and this universe, was again absorbed in the 
supreme Spirit, changing the time of energy for the 
time of repose/" 



CHAPTER III. 

OF COSMOGOXY, CONTINUED. 

After the cosmogony of India, we shall naturally turn 
to that of China; and here we find an account of the 
creation, not indeed so diffuse, but still sufficiently 
near to this general system, to be worth noticing. The 
first of men was named Peon-Ku, and he sprang from 
the chaotic egg. From the shell of this egg, in the 
deep gloom of night, were made the heavens, from the 
white the atmosphere, and from the yolk the earth. 
The order of creation was as follows ; first the heavens, 
next the foundations of the earth, then the atmosphere, 
and lastly, man. 

Passing over the Gothic mythology, which we have 
already detailed at some length, we proceed to that of 
the Etruscans, of whose system we find an account in 
Suidas. "God," says a philosopher of that nation, "cre- 
ated the universe in six thousand years, and appointed 
the same period of time to be the extent of its 
duration. In the first period of a thousand years, 
God created the heavens and the earth ; in the second, 
the visible firmament; in the third, the sea and all the 
waters that are in the earth; in the fourth, the sun, 
the moon, and the stars; in the fifth, every living 
soul of birds, reptiles, and quadrupeds, which have 
their abode either in the land, the air, or the waters; 
and in the sixth, man alone. Now, God had employed 



OP COSMOGONY. 



423 



six thousand years in the creation, and meant the 
world to last the same period ; so that the age of the 
world, from its commencement to its termination, will 
be twelve thousand years." On this cosmogony, so 
simple and yet so exact, we must pause a little. From 
whatever source the Etruscans derived their system, 
we know that it must ultimately be traced to the ark, 
and from Noah to Adam. Now the order of creation 
here, is the same as that given by Moses; and it has 
the rare merit of being free from those notions of the 
mundane egg and the succession of worlds, which 
deform the cosmogonic schemes of most, if not all 
other nations. 

The Scriptures assure us, " that one clay is with the 
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one 
day; 5 ' and as a great part of the creation took place 
before the globe was made to revolve, or, in the phrase 
of Moses, before the creation of the sun, the period 
called a day in those passages, could not have been one 
of twenty-four hours, or, at least, we have no reason to 
believe that it was. Now, the discoveries of modem 
geologists (among whom, Sedgwick and Buckland 
stand conspicuous, in their treatment of the point in 
question,) tend to show us that the Mosaic day was a 
very long period, not improbably amounting in extent 
to a thousand of our years. And when we find an 
ancient tradition, undoubtedly genuine, asserting the 
same thing, or, we may say, putting the same construc- 
tion on the Mosaic account, at a time too when geology 
was as much unknown as the steam-engine, we 
cannot fail to perceive the strong confirmation it gives, 
both to our Scriptures and to the geological theory. 
Another curious particular, in which it coincides with 
rabbinical tradition, is the extent of duration ascribed 
to the world, that of six thousand years; and since the 
coming of Christ, many of the learned have revived 



424 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



this tradition, and announced their belief, that the 
world was intended to last two thousand years before 
the flood, two thousand years before Christ, and two 
thousand years after him. 

Passing into America, we shall first find the Mexican 
cosmogony, which has been already noticed ; next the 
Peruvian, which asserted, that at the beginning, there 
came from the north a being named Con, who levelled 
mountains and hills solely by the word of his mouth, 
that he filled the earth with men and women whom he 
had created, giving them fruits and bread and all 
things necessary for their subsistence, but that being 
offended by their transgressions, he deprived them of 
the blessings which they had formerly enjoyed, and 
afflicted their lands w r ith the curse of sterility. The 
Virginians also had a legend not very dissimilar; they 
however, with many other nations, believe that God 
delegated to other deities the office of creation, and 
that all things were first formed out of water. 

If we turn from the cosmogonies of nations to the 
cosmogonies of philosophers, we shall find the same 
system more or less distinctly appearing in each. The 
writings attributed to Orpheus tell us, that in the 
beginning, chaos and thick darkness covered all things ; 
that beneath this, the earth lay for a season invisible; 
that afterwards light burst forth and illuminated the 
hitherto obscure globe of the earth, and that this light 
was the greatest of all beings; that from the mass of 
chaos were formed, by the fiat of that primal light, 
the sun, the moon, the earth, and the stars ; and lastly, 
that man, formed out of the dust, was endued with 
a rational soul by the supreme God. Linus, Zeno, 
Anaxagoras, and Thales, all taught nearly the same 
thing, and Aristophanes, in his comedy of The Birds, 
has given us a theory, ancient in his days, which is not 
widely different. " Chaos, Night, black Erebus, and 



OF COSMOGONY. 



425 



wide Tartarus, first existed; there was neither earth, 
nor air, nor heaven, hut in the bosom of Erebus black- 
w T inged Night produced an aerial egg, from which, in 
due time, was born the golden-pinioned Loye, and he, 
the great universal father, begot our race out of dark 
Chaos, in the midst of wide-spreading Tartarus, and 
called us into light ?*' 

At a period much later, Ovid, the most philosophical 
poet of Rome, save Lucretius, gives us the following 
account : — " Before the sea, and the earth, and the sky 
which covers all, the face of nature was uniform over 
the universe, which they called Chaos, a rude and un- 
digested mass, nothing but a lifeless weight, and heaped 
together in it, the discordant seeds of things not well 
mixed together." This last may indeed be considered 
as the recapitulation of the rest. It was written at a 

* I cannot refrain from quoting the beautiful, but somewhat 
ludicrous version of this legend, by Andrew Crosse, Esq., of 
Broomfield, the Electrician and Geologist. 

He sang, how first 'twas jumble all, 

Earth, water, mixed together ; 
Spread out beneath the clouds like soup, 

Or a sea of liquid leather. 

How light arose amidst the storm, 

And flashed upon the ocean, 
And from the mass huge globes shot off 

At once in wild commotion. 

How earth was crusted o'er with good, 

Rich vales, stupendous mountains, 
Birds flew to fill the groves with song, 

Beasts came to sip the fountains. 

The fish to wallow in the seas, 

Insects to suck the flowers, 
And man to rule the mighty whole, 

Endued with godlike powers. 



426 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



time in which the traditions of the Jews, if not well 
known, were yet of easy access, and in which the 
philosophers of the day had seen so much of true light 
reflected upon them, that they had gradually reformed 
their cosmogonies. 

Faber, in his Horse Mosaicse, notices three other 
points of resemblance, which run through nearly all 
systems, and are found in nearly all climates. The one 
is the division of time into weeks, the next the sanctity 
of the seventh day, and lastly, the reckoning by nights 
instead of by days. These, particularly the first, are 
all arbitary divisions of time; it does not result from 
any apparent or real motion of the heavenly bodies, 
and can only be referred to the earliest records for 
authority, and the space of time employed in creation 
for its origin. Where we find the mark of a foot in 
the sand, we know that man has been there, and 
where we find this weekly division of time, there we 
know, that, however perverted to atheism or corrupted 
by fable, the religion of that people has been derived 
from a source originally pure. 

Traces of the weekly sabbath are also widely scat- 
tered. The ancient Greek poets assert its sanctity; it 
was in use in Arabia before the sera of Mohammed; 
the natives of Pegu and of Guinea at the present 
time, those of Persia and Etruria in more early periods, 
have all observed the seventh day as a day of rest and 
devotion. 

The reckoning of time by nights and not by days, 
according to the words of Moses, " and the evening 
and the morning were the first day," has been pre- 
served almost in the same manner. The words fort- 
night and sennight among us, derive their origin from 
those who, in Caesar's time, " conceived themselves 
sprung from Dis, and they affirmed this to have been 



OF COSMOGONY. 



427 



handed down to them from the druids ; for this reason, 
they measure, not by the number of days, but of 
nights. Accordingly, they observe their birth-days, 
and the beginning of months and years, in such a 
manner at to cause the days to follow the night." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Or THE TRADITIONS RESPECTING THE FALL OF MAN. 

There are few truths more generally acknowledged, 
than that man is in a depraved and degraded state. 
This degeneracy of mankind is spoken of by most of 
the Greek and Roman philosophers, but these do but 
exhibit to us the corrupted systems of Egypt and 
India; and if we desire to see the same opinions in a 
nearer light, we must look at those ancient traditions 
from which the Greeks framed their own; and among 
these, the legends which relate to the serpent are at 
once the most important and the most interesting. 
And here a few words from that work which I have 
already mentioned, Deane's Treatise on Serpent Wor- 
ship, will be both useful and appropriate. 

Dr. Adam Clarke, whose immense learning did not 
always prevent his giving the reins to fancy, even in 
matters of criticism, has laboured very hard to prove, 
that the Nachash, the instrument of temptation which 
Satan used against Eve, was not a serpent, but an 
animal of the ape kind. The arguments he uses need 
not be repeated, because, should they spontaneously 
occur to any one, the explanation given by Mr. Deane, 
will be sufficient to vindicate the received opinion. 

" The seduction of Eve by the serpent, is as far 
from being allegorical as the other circumstances of 
the fall. Satan had determined to bring about the 



428 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



destruction of man, and would therefore approach to 
the accomplishment of it in the most subtle manner. 
For this purpose, we are taught to believe, that he 
assumed the form of a serpent, probably because the 
nature of that animal most nearly resembled his own; 
1 for the serpent was more subtle than all the beasts 
of the field/ His own form was spiritual, he could 
not, therefore, have shown himself to Eve as he really 
was; he appeared to her, therefore, under a disguise 
to which she had been accustomed, and at which she 
would not be startled. A beautiful, but mute animal 
crossed her path, ascended the tree of knowledge, and 
plucked its fruit, and in an instant appeared gifted 
with the powers of reason and of speech. He spoke 
to her, desired her to taste the same fruits which had 
opened his mind; and when at length, having over- 
come her first astonishment, she refused, on the plea 
that God had forbidden her to touch it, he said unto 
her, c Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every 
tree in the garden?' If such should appear to have 
been the nature of the temptation which assailed Eve, 
who shall deny, that it was the most powerful which 
could be presented to the human mind ? A mute and 
irrational creature having tasted the fruit of this for- 
bidden tree, became gifted with speech and reason, 
and how surpassing must be the knowledge which 
they would acquire by following the same course. 
Well then might she believe that they would be as 
gods, knowing good and evil. Such an interpretation 
of the temptation of Eve, appears not only the most 
reasonable which can be offered to our belief, but it is 
probably the most correct, from the very language of 
the Scripture which describes the fall. The third 
chapter of Genesis opens in an abrupt manner, and the 
first words of the serpent induce the inference, that 
something had previously passed between him and 



TRADITIONS OF THE FALL OF MAN. 



429 



Eve, which is not mentioned in the narrative. The 
■words, 6 Yea, hath God said/ appear to he the con- 
tinuation of a conversation already hegun. This will 
explain the reason why the woman expresses no sur- 
prise in hearing, for the first time, a hrute animal 
speak with the voice of a man. When Eve was 
questioned hy her Creator, 'What hast thou done?' 
she answered unhesitatingly, 4 The serpent beguiled 
me, and I did eat;' a reply which amounts to conclu- 
sive evidence, that she believed the tempter to be a 
real serpent. As a terrestrial animal, the deceiver is 
cursed; c Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt 
thou eat all the days of thy life ;' this curse applies 
not to a spiritual being. There is ground, therefore, 
for accepting the temptation and fall of man, in the 
literal sense of the Scripture which reveals them to 
our faith." 

It seemed necessary to quote this beautiful and im- 
pressive passage at length, because if we receive any 
other account than that literal one which is given us 
by Moses, we lose a most important link in that chain 
of evidence by which we arrive at the identity of all 
heathen systems. If we show that there is one foun- 
tain from which a hundred streams proceed, we shall 
not wonder at their being all tinged with the same 
colours, and impregnated with the same minerals; but 
if there be no common fountain from which they 
spring, then the coincidence must be accidental, and 
we can no longer trace them by their similarity. 

The theory of Dr. Clarke is more likely to be fol- 
lowed, because it is put forth with that modesty which 
always accompanies talent and learning such as his; 
but, philosophically speaking, it is an important error, 
and therefore, because his much-read Commentary may 
be familiar to the reader, the words of Mr. Deane are 
used, that the author may not appear to rely on his 
own judgment. 



430 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



Speaking of the worship of the serpent, he remarks: 
- — " But how an object of abhorrence could haye been 
exalted into an object of veneration, must be referred to 
the subtilty of the arch enemy himself, whose constant 
endeavour has been rather to corrupt than to obliterate 
the true faith, that in the perpetual conflict between 
truth and error, the mind of man might be more surely 
confounded and debased. Among other devices, that 
of elevating himself into an object of adoration has ever 
been the most cherished. It was this which he pro- 
posed to our Lord : — 6 All these things will I give 
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me/ We 
cannot, therefore, wonder that the same being who had 
the presumption to make such a proposal to the Son of 
God, should have had the address to insinuate himself 
into the worship of the children of men. In this he 
was unhappily but too well seconded by the natural 
tendency of human corruption. The unenlighened 
heathen, in obedience to the voice of nature, acknow- 
ledged his dependence upon a superior being. His 
reason assured him that there must be a God; his con- 
science assured him that God was good; but he felt 
and acknowledged the prevalence of evil, and attri- 
buted it naturally to an evil agent. But, as the evil 
agent seemed as omnipotent to his unillumined mind as 
the good agent, he worshipped both, — the one, that he 
might propitiate his kindness; the other, that he might 
avert his displeasure. 

" The great point of devil-worship being thus 
gained, namely, the acknowledgment of an evil spirit 
as God, the transition to idolatry became easy. The 
mind once darkened by the admission of an allegiance 
divided between God and Satan, became gradually 
more feeble and superstitious, until at length sensible 
objects were called in to aid the weakness of the de- 
graded intellect, and from their first form as symbols, 



TRADITIONS OF THE FALL OF MAN. 



431 



passed rapidly by the successive stages of apotheosis, 
until they were elevated into gods. 

" Of these the most remarkable was the serpent ; 
upon the basis of tradition, regarded first as the symbol 
of the malignant being, subsequently considered talis- 
manic and oracular, and lastly venerated and wor- 
shipped as divine." 

We shall, in a future chapter, have to speak of this 
worship; but we now pass on to notice those coin- 
cidences of tradition which relate to the fall of man, 
and its immediate consequences. The first disobedi- 
ence was a precedent but too soon followed. The first- 
born man was the first murderer, and consequently the 
first fratricide. We have but to look to the mytholo- 
gical schemes in order, and we shall see this awful event 
declared with great distinctness. "Brahma," says one of 
the Puranas, u becoming incarnate, produced the first 
woman, Satarupa, or Iva, out of one half of his body; 
and the first man, Swayambhuva, or Adima, from the 
other. From this pair were born three sons, Dachsha, 
Cardama, and Ruchi. These quarrelling, Dachsha 
wished that Cardama might ever remain a wanderer on 
the face of the earth, whereon Cardama slew Dachsha 
with a club, while performing a sacrifice." 

This legend has been noticed before, and also the 
singular coincidence of these three brothers with 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, so that the latter is often 
represented with a gory head in his hand, which head 
turns out, on examining the legend, to be that of 
Brahma. 

The fable of the Atlantians is the next that claims 
our notice ; they tell us that Uranus was their first 
sovereign, and the first civilizer of men ; his eldest son 
was Hyperion, but his other children, moved with 
envy, slew Hyperion, and took his dominions to them- 
selves. This is less satisfactory, but still sufficiently to 



432 



ORIGIN OF FALSE W0RSIIIP. 



the point to deserve attention ; but the most remarkable 
of such legends is that preserved among the Iroquois. 
That a wild tribe, in so remote a country, should have 
a very exact account, not only of the fall, but of the 
first murder, is a coincidence which almost goes the 
required length ; it does much to prove that the truth, 
more or less corrupted, was spread all over the world, 
and is to be found as the basis of every mythological 
system. 

This tribe believe that the first woman was seduced 
from her allegiance to God, and on this account ba- 
nished from heaven. Afterwards she bore two sons, 
one of whom, in consequence of a quarrel, took a club 
and slew the other. But from the same woman sprang 
many men and women, who were the progenitors of 
the whole human race. 

To return to Greece : we have a not dissimilar fable 
concerning the Corybantes ; indeed, it is almost certain 
that this last was borrowed from the Indian legend 
before related. It is a tale of three brothers, one of 
whom was murdered by the other two. In many of 
these cases, the murdered person was elevated to the 
rank of a god, and worshipped accordingly. 



CHAPTER V; 

OF THE TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 

The Deluge, and the causes for which the world was 
afflicted with so severe a visitation, are explicitly de- 
clared in every system of mythology which has reached 
our times. We have noticed it in India, in Greece, in 
China, among the Burmese, the Persians, the Syrians, 
the Chaldieans, and the Mexicans. Several circum- 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 



4& 



stances preceding it have been also retained with the 
same fidelity. Such is the translation of Enoch, a fact 
too remarkable to be forgotten, and too susceptible of 
poetic illustration to be handed down without corrup- 
tion. The Hindoos have the tradition thus : — The third 
in descent from Adima and Iva was Dhruva, who, 
retiring to a forest by the banks of the Jumna, devoted 
his whole time to the contemplation of the Deity, and 
to acts of religious austerity. Unlike the demons who 
at times took the same course to obtain empire, he was 
free from ambition, and inculcated a blameless life and 
conversation upon mortals. His virtues so pleased the 
gods, that they exempted him from the common lot of 
mortals, and removed him to heaven without death ; 
he is now visible as the polar star. 

Enoch was the seventh from Adam, but the third 
from Adam was Enos ; and in all probability the simi- 
larity of these names gave rise to the chronological 
mistake. This is also the probable reason why it was 
in his third visit to Ceylon, that Budha, according to 
the Singalese legend, ascended to the top of that moun- 
tain which is called the Peak of Adima, and thence 
being translated to heaven, was no more seen in this 
world. 

The Calmucs, who do or did worship Budha under 
the name of Xaca, have the same legend. Yon Strah- 
lenberg says, " Among other idols, they worship in a 
peculiar manner one which they call Xaca, or Xaca- 
muni. They say that four thousand years ago he was 
only a sovereign prince in India, but that, on account 
of his unparalleled sanctity, God had taken him up into 
heaven alive.* 1 

Another version of the same fact is that which gives 
us the translation of Hesperus. He was the son of 
Atlas, and eminent among all his brethren for justice 
and piety. Being devoted to astronomical studies, 

2 F 



434 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



he was once on the top of Mount Atlas, making obser- 
vations, when he was caught up by a whirlwind into 

heaven, and became the evening star. 

Another point of similarity between the fables of 
mythology and the records of Moses, is the great age 
assigned to the antediluvian patriarchs. This was 
noticed by Josephus, who says, — " All those persons, 
whether Greeks or barbarians, who have written on the 
subject of antiquity, agree with me in this point. For 
Manetho, who wrote an account of the Egyptians, and 
Berosus, who compiled a narrative of the affairs of 
Chaldaaa; and Mochus and Hestiaeus, and Jerome the 
Egyptian, who were the authors of different histories 
of Phoenicia ; all these bear testimony to my veracity. 
Hesiod, likewise, and Hecatseus, and Hellanicus, and 
Acusilaus, and Ephorus, and Nicolaus, relate that the 
ancients lived a thousand years." 

The Burmese and Chinese held, as has been already 
shown, the same belief, with the important addition 
that the curtailment of man s life w r as the consequence 
of his moral depravity and continued degeneration. 
The Roman philosophers, who are chiefly valuable as 
epitomizing all that had been before published, had a 
tradition concerning Japetus, which is thus given by 
Horace : — " After fire was brought down (by Japetus) 
from the heavenly dome, consumption and a new host 
of diseases swept over the earth, and the approach of 
death, always inevitable, but once far remote, was 
quickened." 

Now this is in exact accordance with the scriptural 
account. At the period when Japheth flourished, the 
span of mans life was first shortened ; and from that 
time forward it experienced a gradual diminution, till 
it reached the present standard. But not only was the 
life of man longer, but in those early ages his stature 
was greater. This is the decision of universal tradi- 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 435 



tion, and the more ancient the record, the more holdly 
is it pronounced. Moses says, " And there were giants 
in the earth in those days." 

Homer speaks with comparative contempt of the 
diminutive race of men in his day, and makes his 
heroes pronounce a similar judgment upon their con- 
temporaries. 

Sanchoniatho mentions the huge sons of Genos (the 
Cain of the Scripture) ; he says that their names were 
given to the mountains upon which they seized, and 
speaks of them as having sprung up during a period of 
universal depravity. Hesiod. and, after him, Ovid, tell 
the same tale ; and in the far North we find the only 
inhabitants of the universe before the flood a race of 
iniquitous giants, who all, save one, perished therein. 

We now pass to the unity of fable concerning the 
Flood itself, just observing that the period in w T hich it is 
said to have happened will be generally found to cor- 
respond very nearly, if not exactly, with that assigned 
to it by Moses. 

Of the flood, we have already seen many versions. 
Plato, in his Timaeus, gives an Egyptian account, and 
after discussing the destruction of the earth by fire, 
he proceeds to discourse of its dissolution by a mighty 
flood. "The gods," says he, "now wishing to purify the 
w r orld by water, overwhelmed it with a deluge. On 
this occasion certain herdsmen and shepherds were 
saved on the tops of the mountains, but they who 
dwelt in the towns of Egypt were swept away into the 
sea by the rising of the waters." 

After this Egyptian legend, we will take a passage 
from Davies Mythology of the British Druids, in which 
the sum of the Bardic traditions on this subject is 
given. " The profligacy of mankind had provoked the 
great Supreme to send a pestilential wind upon the 
earth; a fierce poison descended, every blast was death. 

2 f 2 



436 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



At this time the patriarch, distinguished for his inte- 
grity, was shut up, together with his select company, 
in the inclosure with the strong door. Here the just 
ones were safe from injury. Presently a tempest of 
fire arose ; it split the earth asunder to the great deep. 
The lake Llion hurst its bounds. The waves of the 
sea lifted themselves on high round the borders of 
Britain. The rain poured down from heaven, and the 
waters covered the earth ; but that water was intended 
as a lustration to purify the polluted globe, to render it 
meet for the renewal of life, and to wash away the 
contagion of its former inhabitants into the chasms of 
the abyss. The flood which swept away from the sur- 
face of the earth the expiring remains of the patriarch's 
contemporaries, raised his vessel on high from the 
ground, bore it safe upon the summit of the waves, and 
proved to him and to his associates the water of life and 
renovation/' 

Nor is a knowledge of this awful visitation confined 
to the old world. In the section on Mexican mytho- 
logy a fable was related, referring to the same cata- 
strophe. The Peruvians had the following account 
current among them. They believed, by old tradition 
from their ancestors, that it once rained so violently as 
to deluge all the lower parts of the country. In con- 
sequence of this, an universal destruction of the human 
species took place, a few persons only excepted, who 
escaped into caves in the top of the mountains. Into 
these elevated retirements they had previously conveyed 
a sufficient stock of provisions and living animals, lest, 
when the waters abated, the whole race should have 
become extinct. As soon as the rain ceased, they sent 
out two dogs, which returned to them covered with mud 
and slime. Hence they concluded that the flood had not 
subsided. After a certain interval they sent out two 
more dogs, which coming back dry, they concluded 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 



437 



that the earth was now habitable. Upon this they left 
the places into which they had retired, and became the 
progenitors of the present race of men: they were seven 
in number. Faber, from whose Horce Mosaicce several 
of these legends are taken, reconciles the number seven 
to the eight of Noah, by the frequent omission of 
Noah's wife in the oriental legends; this was done 
because she was, as the great universal mother, mys- 
tically identified with the ark itself, and as the goddess 
of the ship she was still identified with the consort of 
the great father, and the mother of his children. 

The Brazilian tradition states that the world, with 
its inhabitants, were once destroyed by water, save one 
man and his sister, who escaped on a raft; these mar- 
ried, and from them the Brazilians deduced their 
descent. Lerius relates that he was present at one of 
their solemn assemblies, when, in general chorus, they 
chaunted a sort of requiem to the souls of their an- 
cestors. In the course of the song they did not fail to 
notice the catastrophe of the deluge, in which the 
whole world perished, save a few of their ancestors, 
who escaped by climbing trees. Pietro Martin also 
relates that when the Spaniards discovered Nicaragua, 
they attempted to persuade the reigning prince to 
become a Christian. His first question was, whether 
the Christians knew anything of that great flood which, 
according to their ancestors, had once covered the 
whole earth, and had destroyed both man and beast. 
The missionaries who first visited the islands in the 
Pacific Ocean found traces there of the same event in 
the traditions of the people. In Otaheite they were 
told that the gods had broken up the whole world, and 
the islands were but fragments of a vast continent 
which was now plunged beneath the waters. 

In Owhyhee, there was a more distinct legend, for 
the inhabitants of that cluster said, that Etoa, their 



438 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



god, who had created the world, had subsequently 
destroyed by a deluge; that all the earth had been 
cohered by the water, save the peak of Mowna Eoa, 
on which one pair had saved themselves from destruc- 
tion, and that from them had sprung all the race of 
mortals now existing. 

There are many circumstances connected with the 
ark which will be found running through the whole 
circle of mythological learning. A few of these will 
be briefly noted. The eight principal gods of Egypt 
were represented as sailing over the sea in a ship : this 
ship was also called Argo, as well as Baris and Theba, 
and from the Egyptian legend arose the Greek fable 
of the ship Argo, which was always represented as the 
first ship. The Greeks, in their anxiety to dress the 
tale in the ornaments of romance, forgot that the ship 
Argo was the first ship, and represented the king of 
Colchis as possessing a navy when Jason landed on his 
coast. Circumstances like this make the Greek my- 
thology of comparatively little value in an inquiry like 
the present; for whereas other nations, the Egyptians, 
the Indians, and barbarians, preserved their traditions 
as they were handed down to them from antiquity, the 
lively and poetical Greeks never ceased adorning and 
illustrating them. 

One of the most singular modes in which the ark of 
Noah has been made an object of veneration may be 
seen in the Indian argha. This consists of the linga, 
placed upon the yoni: these are the symbols of 
Mahadeva and Parvati, and very few who behold 
the argha know that it has anything to do with the 
ark at all, or with any kind of ship. They are 
considered as the signs of reproduction, and of the 
active and passive powers of nature: there is, however, 
a Hindoo fable which throws a light on this subject, 
and explains its name and nature at once. 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 439 

During the time when the earth was plunged be- 
neath the waters, and just before the Matsyavatara, or 
the Yaharavatara, (for it is not quite certain which,) 
Parvati transformed herself into a ship, of which 
Mahadeva became the mast; when the earth was 
brought up from the waters, they flew away in the 
shape of doves. Now Parvati, Isis, the Derceto of the 
Syrians, and the Aphrodite of the Greeks, are all but 
different names of the same goddess, and may there- 
fore all be traced to the ark. Typical of the productive 
energies of nature, the symbols of Mahadeva and Par- 
vati may be easily referred to the first parents of the 
second world; and when we find Yenus, Derceto, and 
Isis, each made to animate the form of a ship, and the 
two latter containing each eight gods, the reference to 
the ark is too palpable to be mistaken. It is allowed 
on all hands that the argo of the Greeks is a mere copy 
of the Egyptian argo ; and this, if we assume the supe- 
rior antiquity of Indian mythology, which there are 
many reasons for doing, will appear to be a copy in its 
turn of the Hindoo argha. 

This chapter will be concluded in the words of Faber 
(Horce Mosaicci*, vol. i., p. 131.) Noticing the sin- 
gular manner in which the history of the deluge seems 
to be portrayed on the southern hemisphere of the 
celestial globe, he says, u The greater part of this divi- 
sion of the sphere is occupied by various aquatic 
animals, and water is represented as streaming upon it 
in almost every direction. In the midst of the waves 
appears the ship Argo; near it is a dove which seems 
to be flying towards it, and at a small distance from it 
is a raven perched on the back of a sea-serpent. Fur- 
ther on, as if he had just left the ship, is the fabulous 
centaur, who, with his lance, pierces an animal, and 
bears it as a victim towards a smoking altar. The 
Argo thus depicted on the sphere, is claimed by the 



440 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



Greeks as the vessel of Jason, which bore him from 
Pagasse to Colchis, in quest of the golden fleece. The 
centaur is equally claimed by them, and the whole 
body of constellations is said to relate to a pretended 
expedition conducted by a petty Thessalian chieftain. 
It is not difficult, however, to show that such a claim 
was purely the result of national vanity, united with a 
love of poetical romance. 

Ci With respect to the constellation, its position alone 
may prove that the story attached to it was not of 
Grecian origin. Canopus, the principal star, is only 
thirty-seven degrees from the south pole, and a great 
part of the constellation lies yet nearer to it. But the 
course of the fabled argonautic voyage from Pagasce to 
Colchis lay between thirty-nine and forty-five degrees 
north latitude; the constellation Argo is alike, therefore, 
invisible both at Pagasas and at Colchis; hence it is 
sufficiently manifest that the history attached to that 
constellation cannot relate to the pretended Thessalian 
expedition; for if the Greeks had been the persons 
who placed first the Argo in the sphere, we may be 
morally sure that they would have placed it in the 
northern hemisphere, where they could have seen it 
themselves, and not in the southern, where they could 
not see it. Such being the case, the catasterism of 
the ship must have been originally arranged by a nation 
which lay far to the south of Greece, and which could 
behold it from their own settlements. Consequently, 
to whatever history it may relate, it clearly cannot 
refer to the voyage of a Thessalian galley from Pagasce 
to Colchis. With this conclusion all that we are told 
of the Argo perfectly agrees. Though it is said to have 
been the ship of Jason, and though the poets largely 
describe its structure of Thessalian timber, we are 
nevertheless assured that it was the identical vessel in 
which Danaiis sailed from Egypt to Greece, many 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE DELUGE. 



441 



years before the alleged epoch of Jason. Nor is this 
all; we are further taught that the Argo of the sphere 
is the sacred ship of the Egyptian Osiris, into which 
he was compelled to enter by Typhon; and we are 
informed that Typhon * was a mere personification of 
the sea, which therefore constrained the hero-jrod 
Osiris to take refuge in the ship named Argo. 

"But the knowledge of the Argo was by no means 
peculiar to the Egyptians, or the Greeks ; we find this 
famous ship equally familiar to the Hindoos. As the 
Osiris or the Isiris of the former enters into the Argo, 
so the Isawara (Mahadeva,) of the latter enters into 
the Argha; and as the navicular goddess of Egypt was 
called Isis, so the navicular goddess of Hindoostan still 
bears the name of Isi (Parvati). But the Argha of 
India is manifestly the ark, for it floats upon the waters 
of the deluge, and afterwards flies away in the shape 
of a dove. Hence we may be sure, that that Argo 
which, from its position, could only have been placed 
in the sphere by a nation much more southern than 
the Greeks, is no obscure Thessalian galley, but a ship, 
the history of which was well known from Egypt to 
Hindoostan ; a ship which every particular attached to 
it proves to have been the ark of Noah." 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAH AND HIS SONS. 

It has been very frequently attempted to prove the 
doctrine of the Trinity by a reference to the tritheisni 

* This is to be taken only as a Greek fable ; the Egyptian 
accounts of him will be found in the first suction of this work, 
but, as a Greek fable, it is of sufficient authority to refute 
another Greek fable. 



442 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



prevailing in almost every nation whose mythology has 
excited the attention of mankind; but a little further 
examination would have convinced the inquirers that 
they might as well have argued for the truth of justi- 
fication by faith, or any other scriptural doctrine, from 
the same circumstance. It may be very easily shown 
to refer to the three sons of Noah, who were the pro- 
genitors of the present race of mankind. We may 
just mention a few of these triads, and note the dif- 
ferences which prevail among them. They are — 
1. The triad of the Hindoos, Brahma, Yishnu, and 
Mahadeva. 2. The triad of the Egyptians, Osiris, 
Isis, and Orus. 3. The triad of the Greeks, Jupiter, 
Neptune, and Pluto; or, rather, Zeus, Poseidon, and 
Hades. 4. The triad of the North, Odin, Frigga, and 
Thor. 5. The triad of the Scythians, Lipoxais, Ar- 
poxais, and Colaxais. Besides these there is a triad of 
the Germans, triads of Graces, Furies, Gorgons, Fates, 
and many others similar. That which is the most cele- 
brated of these triads is the Greek, the sons of Kronus, 
or, as the Romans called him, Saturn. 

Now, if once we establish the identity of Noah and 
Saturn, we have proved the identity of the sons of the 
one with the sons of the other; and to this, therefore, 
our attention should be in some measure first directed. 
The driving of Saturn from heaven to earth is an apt 
representation of Noah's passage from one world to 
another, — from the antediluvian world, which the poets 
universally represent as a golden age, to an earth, now 
doubly cursed, — cursed, in the first instance by sterility, 
and again by the flood. Saturn was the ruler of the 
golden age, but the period immediately before the 
deluge was that in which Noah had just succeeded to 
the patriarchal government, and was therefore the lord 
of the golden age. Saturn's devouring his children is 
but a disguised mode of telling us how all the sons of 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAII AND HIS SONS. 443 

time were prematurely destroyed when that general 
and awful visitation took place; three escaped the rage 
of the one, three escaped the judgment of the other. 
Saturn was the god of hushandry, and as such, as much, 
as because a personification of time, he bore the scythe 
or the sickle in his hand: he taught men to plant 
vines, and was seldom represented without the flowers 
and fruits of the earth in his aged hands. 

All this corresponds exactly with the history of 
Noah ; " and Noah began to be an husbandman;" he 
planted the vine, and to his cost drank its produce ; he 
was rightly spoken of as an old man, for, at the time 
of the flood he was six hundred years old, and lived 
to an age much greater than any of his descendants. 
The very name of the mountain upon which the 
ark rested, gives us a further reason for the identity 
of Noah and Saturn. Har-irad, the mountain of 
descent, would well apply to the residence of a god, 
who, cast down from his celestial dominions, became 
a monarch upon earth. 

These reasons seem sufficient, but if not, it may be 
added, that a ship in which he had made a wonderful 
voyage, w T as, by no means, an unfrequent symbol of 
Saturn. The sons of Saturn, then, are the sons of 
Noah, and in exact accordance with this hypothesis, 
we find them dividing between them the whole earth. 

Japetus, king of heaven and earth, who answers to 
Jupiter in a later mythos, bears in his name a simi- 
larity to that of Japheth, too close to be overlooked. 
One of the sons of this same being, under another 
name, was called by the Egyptians, Hammon, or, 
Amoun, and we shall presently show the identity of 
Ham and Pluto. Neptune, or Poseidon, seems to have 
no other resemblance to Shem, than that which is de- 
rived from bein£ the son of Saturn. The division 



444 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



among the brothers of Saturn s dominions, seems to 
have been conducted in such a manner, that heaven 
and earth fell to the eldest, Jupiter, Zeus, Japetus, or, 
Japheth ; the sea to the second, Poseidon, Neptune, or 
Shem ; and hell to the youngest, Hades, Pluto, or 
Ham; but there appears no other reason to make Shem 
the ruler of the sea, than this, that there was no other 
domain left for him. The appointment of Ham, whose 
sons, Cush and Misraim, Phut and Canaan, were the 
colonizers of Africa and the Asiatic countries adjacent, 
was much more appropriately imagined. If Saturn be 
Noah, Pluto was one of his sons ; and, it is said, in a 
very ancient tradition, that Ham was a black man. 
Now, whether this legend be true or not, is not of the 
slightest consequence; opinions were built on tradi- 
tions as well as on facts, and the blackness of the 
African races might be thought, perhaps, derived from 
their great ancestor. But by the old geographers the 
central parts of Africa were not only supposed to be 
very hot, but, actually, in a state of combustion ; and 
we are gravely assured by some of the philosophers of 
antiquity, that it is impossible to pass the equator for 
the whole earth is there on fire. 

We have every reason to believe, that the ancients 
circumnavigated Africa ; but since they have left no 
very exact documents on the subject, we are hardly 
qualified to speak with certainty, but this much is cer- 
tain, that the fables of the actual combustion of the 
earth, at the regions of the equator, existed in the 
fifteenth century. 

When the first Portuguese discoverers, under the 
patronage of that accomplished prince, Don Henry, 
sailed along the western coast of Africa, with a view 
to find a naval passage to India, and observed the in- 
creasing heat and the deepened complexions of the 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAH AND HIS SONS. 



natives as they proceeded, they not only felt, but ex- 
pressed their apprehension of coming to a land a\ here 
the very air would he flame, and the inhabitants, de- 
mons ; nor was it at all an easy matter to induce them 
to advance. One expedition was actually given up 
through this terror. .All that the better-informed 
among them had read or heard on this subject, now 
came back to their minds with the conviction of truth, 
and they totally abandoned the idea of circumnavi- 
gating so perilous a coast. Yasco de Gama dissolved 
the charm, and laid the first stonA of the temple of dis- 
covery. It was not, then, without reason that the lord 
of so flaming a territory was fabled to be the prince of 
hell. 

An instance of this coincidence is found in the iden- 
tity of Amoun, Ham, and Osiris ; for, as we shall have 
occasion presently to observe, there are few objects of 
worship that may not at last be resolved into the 
sun, or the moon. Osiris we have already seen to be 
the sun, and we must expect that every other character 
made from the sons of the patriarch, and elevated into 
the rank of divinities, will be capable of the like 
solution. 

The great triad of the North, Odin, Frigga, and 
Thor, like that of the Egyptians, Osiris, lsis, and Orus, 
seems to relate to an earlier period than that of the 
deluge, for these are not triads of three brethren, but 
composed of a father, a mother, and a son, represent- 
ing respectively, heaven, earth, and the sun. But 
there is a Northern tradition, agreeing precisely with 
the Xoetic account, and which, in the section on Nor- 
thern mythology, was fully related. It is that Bore, 
the son of Bure, ^vas the father of Odin, Vile, and Ve. 
This legend is remarkable, because, in the subsequent 
pages of the Edda, we meet only once more with Vile 
and Ye ; they are the heroes of no fables, and seem 



446 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



only mentioned in the passage quoted above, to show 
that Odin was but one of a triad of brethren. 

In the Asiatic Researches, there occurs a passage 
concerning the last of the Menus ; that he was the 
father of three sons, Sham a, Charma, and Iyapati, 
who, with her, were saved in the deluge. 

Upon these Indian accounts we have been told not 
to place too strong a reliance, for that some of them 
have been invented for the sake of the coincidence. 

The history of the Scythian triad is thus given by 
Herodotus : " When this region," says he, " was in its 
original and desert state, the first inhabitant was named 
Targitaus, a son, they say, of Jupiter, by a daughter 
of the Borysthenes. This Targitaus had three sons, 
Lipoxais, Arpoxais, and, lastly, Colaxais. "Whilst they 
possessed the country, there fell from heaven into the 
Scythian district, a plough, a yoke, an axe, and a gob- 
let, all of gold ; the eldest of the brothers was the first 
who saw them, who, running to take them, was burnt 
by the gold. On his retiring, the second brother ap- 
proached, and was burnt also. When these two had 
been repelled by the burning gold, last of all, the 
younger brother advanced ; upon him the gold had no 
power, and he carried it to his house. The two elder 
brothers observing what had happened, resigned all 
authority to the youngest. As this region is extensive, 
king Colaxais divided the country into three parts, 
which he gave to his three sons, making that t the 
largest in which the gold was deposited." 

In this tradition we may observe the character of 
Noah hinted at in the instruments of husbandry and 
the cup, while, as Faber justly remarks, in the superi- 
ority of the youngest brother over the other two, we 
are led to recognise the usurpation and tyranny of the 
line of Ham in the person of Nimrod, the founder of 
the only universal monarchy. 



TRADITIONS CONCERNING NOAH AND HIS SONS. 447 



In the traditions of the Germans, vre recognise the 
same triad, in the three sons of Mannus, the son of 
Tuisto, himself sprung from the earth. "" 

* Herodotus, from whose fourth book the history of the 
Scythian triad is taken, gives another very extraordinary ver- 
sion of it, as repeated to him by the Greeks of Pontus. " Her- 
cules," said they, " having slain Geryon, drove away Ins oxen ; 
while wandering about the country, he lost his horses, and, 
after some circumstances, not necessary to repeat, he came to 
a female of very uncommon appearance, resembling a woman 
as far as the middle, but having the lower parts like a serpent. 
Hercules beheld her with wonder, as well he might, but was 
not deterred from asking after his horses. The serpent lady, 
whose name was Echidna, answered that she had them but 
that she would not give them up unless he would marry her. 
Hercules, whose notions on the subject of matrimony were 
none of the most correct, made not the least objection, and, 
accordingly, the union took place. When the horses were 
produced, the owner felt desirous to go ; his wife, naturally 
enough, wished him to stay ; but his departure was already 
resolved on, for this great hero was (like many other great 
heroes) of a wandering and unsettled character, and by no 
means fond of domestic tranquillity. Before his departure, 
Echidna addressed him, and told him, that their union would 
be blest with three sons. c I wish you to say how I shall dis- 
pose of them hereafter, whether I shall detain them here, 
where I am the sole sovereign, or whether I shall send them 
to you.' The reply of Hercules was to this effect : ' As 
soon as they shall be grown up to man's estate, observe this, 
and you cannot err ; whichever of them you shall see bend 
this bow, and wear this belt as I do, him detain in this country; 
the others, who shall not be able to do this, you may send 
away, and, by minding what I say, you will have pleasure 
yourself and will satisfy my wishes.' Having said this, Her- 
cules took one of his bows, for thus far he had carried two, 
and showing her also his belt, at the end of which a golden 
cup was suspended, he gave her them and departed. As soon 
as her three sons grew up, she called the eldest Agathyrsus, 
the second, Gelonus, and the third, Scytha. She remembered 
also the injunctions she had received, and two of her sons, 
Agathyrsus and Gelonus, who were incompetent to the trial 
which was proposed, were sent away by their mother from the 



448 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



There are two triads worthy of notice, and of which 
very little is known. One is the hundred-handed off- 
spring of Ccelus and Terra, or Uranus and Gcea, whose 
names were Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges ; the other is 
the triad mentioned in a Koman legend preserved by 
Appian. Polyphemus and Galatasa had three sons, 
Celtus, Illyrius, and Gallus, and these were the fathers 
of great nations. Now, if there be any truth in ety- 
mology, then the Illyrians, the Celts, and the Gauls^ 
must be these nations. But Caesar, in the first sen- 
tences of his Commentary says, that the Gauls and 
Celts are the same people, and if we suppose Celtus and 
Gallus to hare been friends and neighbours, as well as 
brothers, and their descendants intermingling, formed 
afterwards only one people, still it is difficult to ac- 
count for this location of the sons of Polyphemus, and 
the legend is a proof of a general tradition running 
through all nations, which the more enlightened have 
skilfully wrought into their own histor} r , and the more 
barbarous have indicated in a more rude and unsatis- 
factory manner. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE FATES, FATALISM, AND STOICISM. 

Among the triads of Greek and Roman mythology, we 
find the Graces, the Furies, and the Fates : the former 
two have been already considered; the last have been 

country. Scytlia, the youngest, was successful in his exer- 
tions and remained. From this, Scytlia, the son of Hercules, 
the kings of Scythia are descended, and from the golden cup, 
the Scythians have, to this day, a cup at the end of their 
belts." 



THE FATES. 



449 



reserved to this place with a view to remarks on the 
spread and nature of fatalism. There were, as we have 
already seen, the Fates and the Destinies, of which the 
latter only will he here considered ; their names were 
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and they were depicted, 
Clotho as holding the distaff, on which is wound the 
thread of human life and fortune, Lachesis as spinning 
it, and Atropos as standing ready with the shears or 
scissors, and cutting it off at the destined length. 

Now, the first* idea that will strike the mind on 
beholding this picture, is, that she who holds in her 
hands the great mass of life and lot, from whom it is 
all derived, must he no other than the creating power ; 
that she who spins it out, and continues for ever so 
doing, must be the preserving power ; and that she 
who with the fatal scissors cuts off the thread of life, 
is the embodied principle of corruption and destruction. 
To this scheme we have already a parallel in the Hindoo 
triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva ; and if we search fur- 
ther, we shall find historical as well as philosophical 
evidence of their identity. 

Reverting to the Vamanavatara of Yishnu, we find 
that deity superior in power to him who was the lord 
of heaven, earth, and hell. This same fact is evident 
in the Narasingha, and in the destruction of many other 
asuras, who had by their austerities and devotions thus 
made themselves omnipotent; the avatar mentioned 
above, is chosen from the character of the then ruler, 
Mahabeli; that is, Beli, Bel, or Belus the Great, was 
no other than the Belus so worshipped in Assyria. 
Nimrod, we are told by the books of Moses, was the 
first universal monarch, and he built the city and tower 
of Babel. But the mycologists tell us, that Belus 
built this tower and city; and add to it that he was a 
great astronomer ; we are at no loss, then, to prove the 
identity of Belus and Nimrod, nor to account for the 

2 g 



450 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



fable that lie was lord of heaven and earth, for that 
man, who was really the first and only universal 
monarch, and who also investigated with success, or 
was said to do so, the phenomena of the heavens, might 
well be so called in so early and allegorizing an age. 
But Belus was the lord of hell, and Nimrod was de- 
scended from Ham, who has been already identified 
with Pluto ; it was natural to suppose that the empire 
of Ham would descend to this, his mightiest descendant ; 
and there therefore appears no difficulty whatever, in 
acknowledging Belus and Nimrod to be the same per- 
son. The palace of Mahabeli was said to be at the 
bottom of the sea, which gradually advanced and 
swallowed up the stately city which it adorned. This, 
though somewhat different from the account of Babel, 
gives us yet a clue to another fact, which is no less 
important, viz., that Belus himself was at once, Jupiter, 
Neptune, and Pluto. In the Hindoo account, the flood 
is brought in in a more indirect manner, and we have 
not the triad of gods, from the sons of Noah ; but in 
the more western legends, the one ruling god, Belus, 
(the Sun, as we shall by-and-by show) was, as it were, 
split into three, to be assimilated with the diluvian 
patriarchs. But as there was a divinity superior to 
Mahabeli, so there must be, if the origin of the fable 
be correctly given, a divinity superior to the western 
triad, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto ; accordingly, we 
find these gods, like men, subject to the Parcae, or 
Fates ; that these are three in number, and may be 
shown, as the creating, preserving, and destroying 
powers, to be supreme over all ; and lastly, that the 
Hindoo triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, answers in 
every respect to these mighty and mysterious goddesses. 

There is one more point of resemblance, which com- 
pletes the parallel. It is, that as the Eastern triad was 
but a subordinate set of deities, and all subject to the 



THE FATES. 



451 



eternal Brahm, who was too holy to be approached by 
man in worship, so the western Fates were also said, 
by some vague legends, to be subject to a dim and 
awful personification of omnipotence, who was not 
worshipped, of whom little was said, and little pro- 
fessed to be known. This awful being was called 
Demogorgon, but he was far from being so distinctly 
recognised as the Brahm of the Hindoos, and from 
this vagueness arises the more decided fatalism of the 
European systems. 

Pausanias, in his remarks on the chest of Cypselus, 
says, among the figures, there was one with a wild and 
savage air, great tusks, and crooked hands. Now, we 
have already shown the coincidence of the Fates in 
general with the three divinities of the Hindoo triad, 
and the coincidence of this figure with Kali, the sacti, or 
pervading energy of Mahadeva; this will not be thought 
fanciful, when we find that by its inscription it was 
known to be one of the Parcoe. Clotho then will coin- 
cide with Brahma, and Lachesis with Vishnu ; but as 
these personages are found in the Yalkyruies of the 
North, as w T ell as in the East and West, we shall expect 
to find fatalism more or less prevalent, as the relative 
position of these goddesses was more or less dignified. 

We shall first see how the Latin Stoic philosophers 
treated the subject, premising that the differences be- 
tween them and their Greek predecessors are of no 
consequence to our question, and that the latter are 
more explicit, as well as more intelligible. 

L, A. Seneca, in his Consolation to Marcia, thus ex- 
presses himself : — "A time shall come, when the world, 
ripe for a renovation, shall be wrapped in flames ; when 
the opposite powers shall naturally destroy each other, 
when the constellations shall dash together, and the 
whole universe, plunged in the same common fire, shall 
be reduced to ashes/' 

2 G 2 



452 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



In his Questions on Natural History, he says, " The 
world being dissolved and re-entered into the bosom of 
Jove, the god continues for some time totally con- 
centred in himself, and remains concealed as it were, 
and totally immersed in the atmosphere of his own 
thoughts. Afterwards we see a new world spring from 
him, perfect in all its parts; animals are produced 
anew, an innocent race of men are formed under more 
favourable auspices, in order to people this earth, the 
worthy abode of virtue ; in short, the whole face of 
nature becomes more pleasing and lovely ." 

Again, in the writings of Seneca the tragedian, 
occurs the following passage. {Here, (Et. v. 1102.) He 
thus apostrophises the end of the world: — 

Day of nature's fear and wonder, 

When her end the world appals, 
When the southern pole shall thunder, 

Crushing Afric as it falls, 

When the northern heavens are sinking, 

Crumbling all the icy ground, 
And the frighted sun is shrinking, 

And his light hath terror bound, 

Then shall heavens' high palace failing, 

Yield at once both death and life ; 
Ruin o'er the gods prevailing, 

Sinks them in chaotic strife. 

This doctrine is of course derived from Zeno, the 
founder of the Stoic sect : he was born of Persian 
parents, in the isle of Cyprus ; and hence, we wonder 
less at finding his doctrines -deduced from those of 
Zoroaster and his magi. Brucker, in his Crit. Hist. 
Phil., gives, as the tenets of this great man, that the 
world, purified by an universal devastation, should be- 
come a luminous and shining abode, into which evil 
would never be permitted to enter. Now, if all this 
be compared with the Northern philosophy, as depicted 



THE FATES. 



453 



in the section allotted to it, we shall see other traces of 
the eastern origin of Odin's religion. 

In the Edda, and in the Voluspa, will he found the 
same events as those just mentioned, and related, or 
rather prophesied, in words nearly the same. Seneca 
says, " the opposite powers shall mutually destroy each 
other." The Voluspa exhibits them in actual contest, 
and as perishing by mutual efforts. Thor and Mid- 
gard, Loke and Heimdall, Tyr and Garmer, reciprocally 
slay each other. Afterwards, we have the same beau- 
tiful renovation of heaven and earth, the same absorp- 
tion of the inferior deities, the same new and innocent 
race of men. The followers of the Edda, of the Magi, 
of the Stoics, were not the only persons who held 
these singularly interesting opinions. " When, at the 
end of this age," say the Hindoos, " Vishnu shall come 
in his tenth avatar, the Kalkiavatara, seated on a white 
horse, and having his sword in his hand, blazing like a 
comet, he will put an end to this era, and renovate the 
world, previous to an age of absolute purity. Kali, or 
the destroying energy, will prevail at his coming ; 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahadeva will fall into the jaws 
of non-existence; Kal, or Time, shall destroy himself; 
and nothing will remain but Brahm, the eternal one." 
Kal signifies black, and is here placed in the same con- 
dition with Surtur the black, in the Northern system. 

In the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, we have this 
awfully sublime passage : " And I saw a new heaven and 
a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were 
passed away, and there was no more sea : And I heard 
a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the taber- 
nacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, 
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be 
with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe 
aw r ay all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall 



454 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



there be any more pain, for the former things are passed 
away ; And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I 
make all things new, And he said unto me, Write, for 
these words are true and faithful." 

This doctrine was not new to the Jews. It is true 
that they had never heard it asserted so distinctly, or 
expressed so sublimely before, but still the Pharisees 
had similar traditions. They believed in the resurrec- 
tion and restoration, and in the spiritual inhabitants of 
the celestial world. These traditions were handed down 
to them from the time of Adam, and from their disse- 
mination originated that foundation of truth on which 
the Gentile nations erected so extensive a superstruc- 
ture of error. 

On examining the records of mythology again, we 
shall see that the gods were often, nay generally, re- 
presented with the frailties, the passions, and the short- 
sightedness of men. Mrs. H. More well observes, 
that the best of the Greek gods would have been trans- 
ported by an English jury, and the most excellent of 
the goddesses committed to the house of correction. 
A specimen from the North, one from the East, and one 
from the "West, will suffice; and as their vices are too 
gross to be here spoken of, the selected fables will show 
their follies only. 

First, then, it is said of Prometheus, that he killed 
two bullocks, and having put the fat in one skin, en- 
closed in the fat the offal and and the bones, while the 
available part of the two bullocks was put into the 
other skin. Prometheus now called Jupiter, to say 
which bullock he would take, observing, that one was 
to be sacrificed to him. Jupiter, deceived by the ap- 
pearance of the fat, chose the worthless lot. 

The history of the Rishis and the Pleiades is a 
similar tale, from the Hindoo mythos ; and in the 
Northern system we have only to look at the manner 



THE FATES. 



455 



in which the giants deceived Thor, in his memorable 
excursion against them. 

The importance of the coincidence is in showing the 
human nature of all these objects of adoration. Fatalism 
is the creed of the Budhuist ; it is the creed of the 
Mohammedan; it is the creed of the Pagan; it forms 
one of those links by which all systems are connected 
together, and one of those clues by which they may all 
be traced to the same source. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ON THE WORSHIP OF THE SERPENT. 

" The worship of the serpent," says Deane, in his ad- 
mirable work on the subject, " may be traced in almost 
every religion through ancient Asia, Europe, Africa, 
and America. The progress of the sacred serpent from 
paradise to Peru is one of the most remarkable phe- 
nomena in mythological history, and to be accounted 
for only on the supposition that a corrupted tradition 
of the serpent in paradise had been handed down from 
generation to generation. 

" The serpent is the symbol which most generally 
enters into the mythology of the world. It may, in 
different countries, admit, among its fellow-satellites of 
Satan, the most venomous or the most terrible of the 
animals in each country, but it preserves its own con- 
stancy as the only invariable object of superstitious 
terror throughout the habitable world. c Wherever the 
devil reigned,' remarks IStillingfleet, 6 the serpent was 
held in some peculiar veneration.' " 

The universality of this worship is what Mr. D. 
showed in his work, and having done so, he feels 



456 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



"justified in drawing the conclusion, that the narrative 
of Moses is powerfully corroborated by the prevalence 
of this singular and irrational, but natural superstition. 
Irrational, for there is nothing in common between 
deity and a reptile to suggest the notion of serpent- 
worship ; and natural, because, allowing the truth of 
the events in paradise, every probability is in favour of 
such a superstition springing up ; for it is more than 
probable that Satan would erect, as the standard of 
idolatry, the stumbling-block ascertained to be fatal 
to man. By so doing, he would not only receive the 
homage he so ardently desired from the beginning, but 
be also perpetually reminded of his victory over Adam, 
than which no gratification can be imagined more fas- 
cinating to his malignant mind. It was his device, 
therefore, that, as by the temptation of the serpent man 
fell, so by the adoration of the serpent he should con- 
tinue to fall." 

That Mr. Deane has amply succeeded in his inten- 
tion, no one who has read his work can doubt; but 
the universality of serpent-worship may be used to 
establish a further point, namely, that the history 
given by Moses is not only true itself, but that this 
history, and those traditions which prevailed among 
the Jews, and which they received from the patriarchs, 
are the basis of every system of mythology and cosmo- 
gony. The worship of which we speak is distinctly 
traced by this author through Asia, in Babylon, Persia, 
Hindoostan, Ceylon, China, and Japan, Burmah, Java, 
Arabia, Syria, Asia Minor, and the islands of the 
Archipelago. 

The serpent, in some of these countries, has been 
considered in the course of this work, and a few re- 
marks here will be sufficient on the others. 

" In the temple of Belus," according to Diodorus, 
" was an image of the goddess Rhea, sitting on a golden 



WORSHIP OF THE SERPENT. 



457 



throne ; at her knees stood two lions, and near her very 
large serpents of silver, thirty talents each in weight. 
There was also an image of Juno, holding in her right 
hand the head of a serpent.'' 

Living serpents were also kept at Babylon as objects 
of adoration ; and this does not rest merely on the 
apocryphal story of Bel and the Dragon; so that, whe- 
ther we regard that history as true or fabulous, it is 
quite certain that the religion of the country is not 
much misrepresented. All through the East, and, in- 
deed, more or less, all through the world, ran the 
hierogram of a circle with wings, and a serpent passing 
through it. It has been found chiefly in sacred build- 
ings, and is supposed to be a symbol of consecration, 
the circle signifying the world, the wings the moving 
or penetrating power of the Deity, and the serpent the 
Deity himself. It seems to signify that it is God by 
whom the universe proceeds in its circle of motion, and 
that it is God who is adored under the symbol of the 
sacred serpent. This circle, when filled up with a human 
face, became the Medusa, and had a separate legend 
applied to it by the imaginative power of the Greeks. 

In Hindoostan, a custom prevails to this day, not 
much unlike that spoken of in the tale of Bel and the 
Dragon. The natives of some parts have a festival 
which they call the festival of the serpents, at which 
every man sets by a portion of his rice, and offers it to 
the hooded snakes, leaving it outside for that purpose. 
This is intended to propitiate these reptiles. 

A circumstance which must not be passed over is, that 
the cobra de capello is the sacred serpent of India. 
Now if we examine the Egyptian sculptures, Ave shall 
find that the same snake is there represented as sacred ; 
it is called the asp ; not the asp by which Cleopatra 
destroyed herself, but the cobra de capello. But the 
cobra de capello is an Asiatic, not an African, snake ; 



458 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



nor is it ever found in Egypt; hence we have a proof 
that part, at least, of the Egyptian system was borrowed 
from India. 

In the chapter on Egyptian mythology is an account 
of some very ancient sculptures, far older than any 
other relics of Egyptian antiquity with which we are 
acquainted. Here are figures of the Indian deities ; 
among them Vishnu and Ganesa are conspicuous, 
affording us another proof of the Indian origin of 
Egyptian mythology. The god of health and medicine 
is always distinguished by serpents. The Greek 
Asclepias, the Roman Esculapius, have many legends 
connected with them, all in some way or other con- 
cerning serpents. This may easily be referred to the 
Jewish idolatry of the brazen serpent. This serpent, 
to look on which gave health to those bitten by its 
living image, might, by a natural transition, be wor- 
shipped as the god of health ; but the general idea of 
the serpent's sanctity is too ancient to be supposed to 
originate in any circumstance of Jewish history. Nor 
can it be very obviously accounted for by the effect 
produced on Adam and Eve, when, by the instigation 
of the serpent, " they took and eat," and " their eyes 
were opened." We are to look to the mythology of 
the serpent in a philosophical view, and find what 
natural events are allegorized in the tales of this being, 
for a resolution of the problem. 

Now these will be found quite sufficient. Krishna 
slew the great serpent Kaliyah ; Apollo slew the great 
serpent Python. Games were instituted in India and 
in Greece to commemorate so glorious an event; and 
if we may credit Clement, the serpent, as well as the 
god, was worshipped in the Pythian festival. 

In the Edda, we find Thor suppressing and casting 
down to the bottom of the sea the great serpent Mid- 
gard ; and be it remembered that Kaliyah, and Python, 



W0RSIIIP OF THE SERPENT. 



459 



and Midgard, are the same. The meaning of the fable 
will be obvious. Krishna and Apollo each typify the 
sun, Thor typifies the temperature of the air, and the 
serpent those pestilential effluvia, winds, &c., which, in 
certain countries, and at certain seasons, prevail. It is 
natural that they should, on this account, receive the 
grateful adoration of men. When they were repre- 
sented in this character, as the givers or restorers of 
health, it would be expected that the serpent would be 
given as a symbol, and soon, by the common, almost 
invariable corruption of mythology, the symbol would 
be worshipped first with, and afterwards instead of, the 
god. 

In the East, brazen images of Kaliyah are often in- 
voked in sickness ; this is evidently an adaptation of 
the worship taken from that image which Hezekiah 
emphatically called Nehustan. In Ireland, also, as we 
may collect from the valuable work so often referred to, 
the worship of the serpent was not without its vota- 
ries, and there are some magnificent monuments re- 
maining which attest the truth of this observation. 
The system of the ancient Irish was a bardic or druid 
superstition, but more assimilated to those of Britanny 
and Gaul than to that of Britain, 

Ogmius, or Ogham, was the chief object of Celtic 
worship in this island ; he was depicted with a 
huge club with serpents twined around it, and sur- 
mounted with wings like the caduceus of Mercury, 
with the staff terminating in a ring. The remains of 
this worship, though decisive, are but few, and there is 
perhaps more truth in the legend of St. Patrick than is 
generally allowed. The prevailing idea among the 
more superstitious Irish is, that St. Patrick banished, 
by his prayers, all snakes and venomous reptiles from 
the island which he loved. May not this imply 



460 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



merely, that, by disseminating the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, he overthrew the worship of the serpent? 

This species of idolatry was extant, more or less, in * 
every country of Europe, Africa, and America, as well 
as in the East, nor is it yet wholly suppressed. That it 
does not now prevail, is to he attributed, first, to the 
constant opposition of the sun worshippers, who, 
though generally victorious, were yet necessitated, in 
many cases, to allow the mixture of the two religions, 
and thus to perpetuate the remembrance of that system 
whose power and supremacy they had suppressed; the 
next cause of its decline was the preaching of Chris- 
tianity ; and the last cause, which in many countries 
destroyed that which had been left by the others, was 
the sword of the Mohammedan conquerors. 

We conclude this chapter in the words of Deane : 
" The Mohammedans in the East, and the Christians in 
the West, completed what had been begun by the chil- 
dren of Surya, and carried on by the votaries of 
Krishna and Apollo, the adventurers of the heroic 
ages, and the arms of the host of Joshua, so that few 
and imperceptible are the traces of an idolatry which 
once called the world its own. The subjects of the 
poetical apostrophe of Lucan, 

Yos quoque cunctis innoxia numinae terris 
Serpitis aurato nitidi fulgore dracones*, 

are now coiled obscurely in the woods of the Abyssi- 
nian Shangalla, or the almost inaccessible mountains 
of central Africa, protected only by the impossibility or 
the inutility of the pursuit/' 

* " You, also, auspicious deities, serpents sparkling with 
golden lustre, who glide over all the earth." 



461 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN. 

This worship, which, according to Bryant, was the most 
ancient and universal form of idolatry, must be divided 
into two kinds ; first, that devotion which was paid to 
the sun as the emblem of the Creator ; and, secondly, 
that which was considered due to him as the chief and 
source of fire. These distinct branches will be found 
in remote antiquity to coalesce, and from that original 
worship, to have branched off with many less-impor- 
tant systems. 

Bryant shows how most of the chief gods of all 
nations are found to coincide with the sun, and we 
have seen, in the course of our inquiries, that many 
gods in the same system, prove, on examination, to be 
the same. 

This subject has been incidentally treated of in 
every section of the present work, and there remains 
now but little, save to present the reader with some 
remarkable instances of the coincidences mentioned. 
One such, or rather, a series of such, is afforded by the 
mythos of Hercules. His great exploit, viz., the per- 
formance of the twelve labours imposed on him by 
Eurystheus, his cousin, to whom he was subject, are 
but an allegorical representation of the course of the 
sun through the twelve signs; this will be shown by a 
reference to Dupuis*, whose work is full of learning, 
but equally full of inaccuracy, violence, and blasphemy. 
In the present instance, he will be found right ; that 
is, he has taken up a false theory, and endeavoured to 

* Dupuis' work, Vorigine de tons les Cultes, is a learned but 
futile attempt to prove, that Christianity is a forgery of com- 
paratively late times, and is but a form of solar worship. 



462 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



defend it by adducing facts which are undoubtedly 
correct. We grant the premises, while we deny the 
conclusion. The following is the parallel which is 
there instituted : — 



Astronomy. 

First Month of the Ancient 
Calendar. 

Passage of the sun into the 
sign Leo, which the Greek 
astronomers called the Ne- 
msean Lion, which period is 
fixed by the setting of the 
constellation Hercules at] sun- 
rise. 

Second Month. 

Passage of the sun into the 
sign Virgo, marked by the 
total setting of the constel- 
lation Hydra, called by the 
Greeks, the Lernaean Hydra, 
and the head of which rises 
again with the sign Cancer in 
the morning. 

Third Month. 

Entry of the sun into the 
sign Libra, at which time the 
Centaur rises heliacally. (This 
centaur afforded hospitality 
to Hercules.) The constella- 
tion was represented in the 
sphere with a sack filled with 
wine, and a thyrsus adorned 
with branches and grapes, as 
an image of the productive- 
ness of the season. In the 
evening the Erymanthian 
boar, as the Greeks some- 
times called the constellation 
Ursa Major, rises. 



Mythology. 

First Labour of Hercules. 

Conquest and destruction 
of the Nemaean Lion, which 
was the offspring of Typhon, 
and which conquest occupied 
the hero thirty days. 



Second Labour. 

Hercules slays the Lerngean 
Hydra, of which two heads 
spring up for every one which 
he cuts off. The Hydra is 
aided by a crab, which Her- 
cules also destroys. 



Third Labour. 

Hercules being hospitably 
entertained by a centaur, and 
afterwards, a quarrel arising 
among the centaurs, about a 
jar of wine, Hercules killed 
some and drove all from their 
country; he then slew the 
Erymanthian boar, which had 
ravaged those fertile plains. 



WORSHIP OF THE SUN. 



463 



Fourth Month, 

Entry of the sun into the 
sign Scorpio, marked by the 
heliacal setting of Cassiopeia, 
in which constellation the 
earlier Greek astronomers de- 
picted a hind. 

Fifth Month. 

The sun passes into the'sign 
Sagittarius ; (a character con- 
secrated to the goddess Diana, 
whose temple was at Stym- 
phalis. In this temple were 
the Stymphalian birds.) This 
period is marked by the rising 
of the Vulture, the Swan, and 
the Eagle, pierced by the ar- 
row of Hercules. 

Sixth Month. 

The sun enters the sign 
Capricorn ; according to some 
my thologists, Capricornus was 
a son of Neptune; accord- 
ing to others, a grandson of 
Apollo. This period is fixed 
by the setting of the constel- 
lation Fluvius, which flows be- 
neath Capricornus, and is de- 
picted as taking its rise from 
the hands of Aristoeus, son of 
the river Peneus. 

Seventh Month. 

Entry of the sun into the 
sign Aquarius, and in that 
period of the year when oc- 
curred the full moon which 
served as the signal for the 
celebration of the Olympic 
games. This season was 



Fourth Labour. 

Hercules takes alive a hind 
with golden horns, sacred to 
Diana. This labour occupied 
the hero a year; and meeting 
Diana, while he had on his 
shoulder the sacred hind, he 
excuses himself to her. 

Fifth Labour. 

Near Stymphalis, in Arca- 
dia, Hercules destroys the 
Stymphalian birds, three in 
number, which ■were water- 
fowl, and kept down in the 
lake for fear of wolves. 



Sixth Labour. 

Hercules cleared out all 
the dung from the stables of 
Augeas, king of Elis, son of 
Neptune, as some say, or of 
the Sun, according to others. 
This he did by making the 
river Peneus flow through 
them. 



Seventh Labour. 

Hercules arrives in Elis, 
mounted on the horse Arion; 
he brings with him the Cretan 
bull, which had been beloved 
by Pasiphae, and which had 
afterwards ravaged the plains 
of Marathon. Here, (at Elis,) 



464 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



marked by the Vulture, placed 
by the constellation Prome- 
theus, and by the culmination 
of the sign Taurus at the 
same time with the setting of 
the constellation Arion, or 
Pegasus. The bull spoken 
of here, was called by the 
Greeks, the Bull of Pasiphae, 
or, of Marathon. 

Eighth Month, 

Passage of the sun into the 
sign Pisces, fixed by the ris- 
ing of the Horse, whose head 
is over Aristseus, or over 
Aquarius, the son of Cyrene. 

Ninth Month. 

The sun enters the sign 
Aries, consecrated to Mars, 
and which is yet called the 
Bam with the Golden Fleece. 
At this season of the year the 
constellation Argo rises; An- 
dromeda, who is distinguished 
by her girdle, sets, and the 
Whale does so witli her ; Me- 
dusa rises, and the Queen 
Cassiopeia sets. 



Tenth Month. 

The sun quits the Ram of 
Phryxus, and enters the Bull. 
At this time sets Orion, who 
was a lover of the Atlantides, 
or Pleiades ; the Oxherd also 
sets (who was the conductor 
of the oxen of Icarus). The 
Atlantides set, and also the 



Hercules instituted the Olym- 
pic games, at which he com- 
bated the first, and after- 
wards destroyed the vulture 
which preyed on the liver of 
Prometheus. 



Eighth Labour. 

Hercules brings the horses 
of Diomedes, the son of Ares 
and Cyrene, to Eurystheus. 



Ninth Labour. 

Hercules sets out in the 
ship Argo, to bring to Eurys- 
theus the golden fleece. On 
his way he meets with the 
Amazons, and, having slain 
many of them, takes the gir- 
dle of their queen Hippolita, 
which had been bestowed 
upon her by Mars. He after- 
wards delivers from a sea 
monster a young girl who had 
been exposed to it, as was 
Andromeda, the daughter of 
Queen Cassiopeia. 

Tenth Labour. 

Hercules, after the acqui- 
sition of the Ram with the 
golden fleece, which, together 
with the Argonauts, he had 
effected, returns into Hes- 
peria, to drive away to Eurys- 
theus the oxen of Geryon ; 
being successful in this at- 



WORSHIP OF THE SUN. 



465 



She-goat, who was the wife of 
Faimus. At this time also 
sets the constellation Eri- 
danus. 

Eleventh Month. 

Entry of the sun into the 
constellation Gemini, indicat- 
ed by the setting of the star 
Procyon ; by the cosmical ris- 
ing of Sirius, by the side of 
which is the Hydra ; and by 
the evening setting of the 
Swan. 

Twelfth Month. 

The sun enters Cancer. 
The constellations Fluvius 
and Centaurus set, and those 
of the Shepherd and the 
Sheep arise. The constella- 
tion Hercules now descends 
towards the Southern regions, 
called Hesperia, followed by 
the Serpent of the pole, guar- 
dian of the golden apples of 
the Hesperides ; this serpent 
he tramples under his foot in 
the sphere, and it falls near 
him towards the West. 



tempt, he slew a prince who 
had pursued the Atlantic 
and arrived in Italy to the 
abode of Faunus, at the rising 
of the Pleiades. 

Eleventh Labour. 

Hercules brings from the 
lower world the dog Cerbe- 
rus, whose tail was that of a 
dragon, and along whose back 
were the heads of serpents. 
He also defeated Cygnus, at a 
time when the Dog-star was 
just about to scorch the 
earth with his fires. 

Twelfth Labour. 

Hercules travels to Hespe- 
ria, to gather the golden fruit 
from the gardens of the Hes- 
perides. After this, he was 
disposed to offer a sacrifice, 
and a shirt tinged with the 
blood of the Hydra was sent 
him by his wife Dejanira. 
This robe occasions his death, 
and he is taken up to heaven, 
resumes his youth, and enjoys 
immortality among the gods. 



This singularly interesting fable is given differently, 
in many respects, by ancient writers, and a few of the 
discrepancies deserve consideration. First, then, the 
order of these labours is not the same ; the order 
which Dupuis assumes, compared with that of other 
authors, is thus : 1, 2, 4, 3, 0, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, and 
there is some difference as to what the tasks were; 
thus, the ninth is generally considered to have been 

2n 



466 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



undertaken solely with a view to obtain the girdle of 
Hippolita, and to have had no connexion whatever 
with the argonautic expedition ; but it may be observed 
that these different versions are all authorized by 
writers to whom credit is due as to the reception of the 
tale in their age and country ; and lastly, that in a case 
of an astronomical legend, the astronomical proof is of 
course much more important than any others. 

The Dionysiacs of Nonnus may be analysed in the 
same way, and with the same success. Bacchus is the 
hero, and the course of the sun exemplifies the alle- 
gories of the poem. 

Another instance of a similar astro-mythological poem 
is the Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius. 

One form under which the sun was worshipped was 
that of a pyramid, or of a cone. Of such a shape was 
the black stone at Edessa, of which Elagabalus was 
priest. Such a stone was that " image which fell down 
from Jupiter" at Ephesus; such an one was the sacred 
image of Diana in her Taurian temple; and this will 
supply us with one, among many, reasons why, in the 
Northern mythology, the sun was made feminine. The 
true cause of this shape seems to be that it was esteemed 
a fit type of flame, and in India water was typified by 
the same form reversed; hence the upright cone was 
consecrated to Mahadeva, (the sun,) and consequently 
to Parvati, and we are now no longer excited to sur- 
prise by finding this peculiar form of sun-worship con- 
nected with many abominable rites and many abo- 
minable mysteries. The black stone at Mecca, in the 
Caaba, seems to be a relic of this species of idolatry, 
and the shield which fell down from heaven in the 
time of Numa, merely a variation of the same general 
superstition. Of the solar-ophite emblem we have 
already spoken, and we shall see some other coin- 
cidences in another chapter. 



467 



CHAPTER X. 

HISTORICAL COINCIDENCES. 

By historical coincidences are here meant such por- 
tions of history, real or legendary, in one country, as 
are evidently taken from mythology or its source, and 
which coincide with similar portions of the records of 
other lands. An apt illustration is afforded us in the 
history of Herodotus, book ii., chap. 141; in which the 
history of the destruction of Sennacherib's army is given 
in an Egyptian dress, and ascribed to an Egyptian god 
defending an Egyptian king. In the nineteenth chap- 
ter of the second Book of Kings we have the scripture 
account; and after the letter of Sennacherib had been 
received and laid before the Lord, the sacred historian 
adds, — " Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the 
king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor 
shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with a shield, 
nor cast a bank against it. By the way which he came, 
by the same shall he return, and shall not come into 
this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to 
save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant Davids 
sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel 
of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the 
Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: 
and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they 
were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria 
departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 
And it came to pass as he w T as worshipping in the 
house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and 
Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they 
escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his 
son reigned in his stead." 

Herodotus gives the history which follows. " The 

2 ii 2 



468 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



successor of this prince (Anysis,) was Sethos, a priest 
of Vulcan. He treated the military of Egypt with 
extreme contempt, and as if he had no occasion for 
their services. Among other indignities, he deprived 
them of their arurae, or fields of fifty feet square, which 
by way of reward his predecessors had given each 
soldier. The result was, that when Sennacherib, king 
of Arabia and Assyria, attacked Egypt with a mighty 
army, the warriors whom he had thus treated refused 
to assist him. In this perplexity the priest retired to 
the shrine of his god, before which he lamented his 
danger and misfortunes. Here he sank into a pro- 
found sleep, and his deity promised him in a dream 
that if he marched against the Assyrians he should 
suffer no injury, for that he would furnish him with 
assistance. The vision inspired him with confidence: 
he put himself at the head of his adherents, and 
marched to Pelusium, the entrance of Egypt. Not a 
soldier accompanied the party, which was entirely 
composed of tradesmen and artisans. On their arrival 
at Pelusium, so immense a number of mice infested by 
night the enemies' camp, that their quivers and bows, 
together with what secured their shields to their arms, 
were gnawed in pieces. In the morning the Arabians, 
finding themselves without arms, fled in confusion, and 
lost great numbers of their men. There is now to be 
seen in the temple of Vulcan a marble statue of this 
king, having a mouse in his hand, and with this in- 
scription, — 4 Whoever thou art, learn from my fortune 
to reverence the gods.' " 

Now, upon these two accounts, it may be remarked, 
first, that they very nearly correspond in point of time; 
for the next king of Egypt of whom the sacred records 
give us any account was Necos, called Pharaoh Necho; 
he overcame Josiah ; and between Sethos and Necos is 
the reign of Psammetichus, a reign of fifty- four years; 



HISTORICAL COINCIDENCES. 



469 



and from the time of the destruction of Sennacherib's 
army to the death of Josiah, is one hundred and one 
years; and this may very well agree with the Egyptian 
chronology. 

The next thing to he observed is the divinity to 
whom Sethos was priest, — not Osiris, or any god of the 
second stage of idolatry, hut Phta, whom Herodotus 
calls Yulcan, a mere personification of the power of 
God. Something also may he learned from the situation 
of the place where the battle was fought, viz., Pelusium, 
a place, as Herodotus says, " on the confines of Egypt," 
and towards Judaea. It is possible, too, that as the 
cities of the Philistines were then under the Egyptian 
government, at least in the reign of Psammetichus, the 
successor of Sethos, that a knowledge of the plague of 
mice on the Philistines at a still earlier period of 
Jewish history may have been mingled with this legend. 
At all events, it will he evident that the Egyptian 
story is but a corrupted version of that awful event so 
graphically described in holy writ. 

Another coincidence of the same kind will be found 
in the history of Philemon and Baucis, who, hospitably 
entertaining two gods who visited them at a time of 
universal degeneracy, were preserved when the vile 
race who inhabited their city were plunged beneath the 
surface of a stagnant pool. What is this but the story 
of Lot and his family, who, when he had been warned 
by the two angels who visited him in Sodom, removed 
from that devoted city, which, with Gomorrah and its 
dependencies, was destroyed by fire from heaven, and 
sunk beneath the surface of the Dead Sea. 

Another is preserved among the Mexicans, and bears 
a reference to the building of Babel. Its distance from 
its origin makes it a very interesting relic, and, after 
considerable examination, it has been decided not only 
genuine, but free from the conjectural corruptions of 



470 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



Spanish Catholicism. "Before the great inundation, 
the country of Anahuac was inhabited by giants. 
When the waters subsided, Xelhua, surnamed the 
Architect, went to Cholula, where, as a memorial of 
the mountain Tlaloc, which had served for an asylum 
for himself and his six brethren, he built an artificial 
hill in the form of a pyramid. He ordered bricks to 
be made in the province of Tlamanalco, at the foot of 
the Sierra Cocotl, and to convey them to Cholula, he 
placed a file of men, who passed them from hand to 
hand. The gods beheld with wrath this edifice, the 
top of which was to reach the clouds. Irritated by 
the daring attempt of Xelhua, they hurled fire on the 
pyramid. Numbers of the workmen perished, the 
work was discontinued, and the monument was after- 
wards dedicated to Quetzal cohuatl, the god of the air." 

A legend of a similar character will give us a fabu- 
lous person to whom the actions of Joseph are attri- 
buted, or, it would be perhaps better to say, will give 
us the history of that patriarch in an Egyptian dress. 
Asarsiph, or Sar Asiph, (the prince Joseph,) married 
a daughter of the Heliopolitan priest On, and his his- 
tory is exactly in accordance with the scriptures. This 
person was the second Hermes. It is said of him that 
he was envied by his brethren, who were continually 
laying snares for him, and plotting how they might 
destroy him; that on this he went to Egypt to the 
tribe of Cham, by which tribe he was received with 
great honour; that he became the first man of that 
country, and was arrayed by way of eminence in a robe 
of gold; that he was both a philosopher and a poet; 
that he foretold many things, and interpreted those 
oracles which the Egyptians had received from heaven; 
that he was the cause of vast wealth to their nation, 
and was styled by them the giver of riches; that on all 
these various accounts he was reverenced as a god, and 



HISTORICAL COINCIDENCES. 



471 



received from them the sacred appellation of Thoth, 
or Hermes. 

One more such coincidence will close this chapter. 
It is the account of the exodus of Israel from Egypt, 
as related hy pagan historians. Manetho says, " There 
was formerly a trihe of leprous shepherds in Egypt, 
who by extraction were foreigners, who rapidly in- 
creased from a small number to eighty thousand, and 
"who were put to hard labour in the quarries on the 
eastern side of the Nile. These had a particular dis- 
trict assigned to them, and they neither adored the 
gods of the country, nor abstained from any of those 
animals esteemed sacred. This pastoral race formed 
themselves into a commonwealth under the authority 
of one Asarsiph, an Ilieropolitan priest of Osiris, who, 
when he became their legislator, changed his name, 
and was afterwards called Moses. Proving, however, 
very dangerous to the Egyptian government, and hav- 
ing succeeded in one of their grand revolutionary pro- 
jects, they were at length forcibly expelled by Ameno- 
phis, who pursued them with his army to the borders 
of Syria." 

Another account says, that in the reign of Bocchoris, 
the nation of the Jews fled for food to the temples; 
being afflicted with a grievous leprosy, many died, and 
a great famine took place. The king inquired of the 
oracle of Hammon, and was charged to purge the land 
and the temples from the unclean race which had taken 
refuge in them, and polluted them. He accordingly 
collected all the impure persons, and causing his soldiers 
to fasten plates of lead to their breasts, had them cast 
into the Ked Sea; but Moses their leader, taking the 
rest under his guidance, led them into the desert, from 
which, after suffering many hardships, they at length 
emerged, and seized upon the land of Judiea. In 
these accounts, it is the Jews who are visited by the 



472 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



gods with leprosy, and by the counsel of an oracle 
drowned in the Red Sea. 

Tacitus gives us another account nearer to the truth: 
- — " Most authors," says he, " agree, that a cutaneous 
disorder breaking out among the Egyptians, King 
Bocchoris, who sought a remedy from the oracle of 
Hammon, was informed by the god, that he must 
purge his kingdom by expelling that race of men (the 
Jews), who were hateful to the gods, and transport 
them to other lands." Tacitus then goes on to state, 
how they conducted themselves under their leader, 
Moses; speaks of the law which he gave them, asserts 
that they worshipped an image of an ass, and in the 
next chapter says, that their notions of the Deity were 
so high, that they esteemed it profane to revere him, 
even under the image of a man. 

It will be observed, that the history of the world, and 
of the chosen people, as given to us by the sacred wri- 
ters, is, in the hands of Gentiles, corrupted and made 
matter of mythological tradition. It is this preserva- 
tion of mythological character, that entitles the extracts 
just given to a place here; they are narratives of 
deeds done by, or at the command of, the gods. 

The history of Moses might be, were it fully inves- 
tigated, shown to be divided among many imaginary 
deities, his miracles and conquests attributed to them, 
and thus a train of coincidences might be pointed out, 
which would be found in almost every mythological 
system. 



473 



CHAPTER XI. 

MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES. 

Under this head, we shall reckon all such coincidences 
as cannot he ranged with those we have been hitherto 
considering; such are: — 

1. The identity of the Hindoo Karlikya and the 
Greek Bacchus. 

Referring to the story of the Kritika in the section of 
Hindoo mythology, we shall find them all driven from 
their heavenly abode, by their husbands, the Rishis, 
who suspected their fidelity, one only retaining her 
place in heaven; these six, therefore, transmigrated 
into the forms of mortal maidens, and were born as 
the daughters of six rajahs. They were present on the 
banks of the Ganges when Kartikya arose from that 
river, and each immediately claimed to receive and 
protect the beautiful infant. Kartikya, however, un- 
willing to be the cause of dispute, assumed six heads, 
and presented one to every breast which was offered 
him; they therefore acknowledged his divinity, and 
educated him among them. In return for this service, 
the god placed them again among the stars, and gave 
them a more glorious station: he assigned them a place 
in the zodiac, and they now shine as the Pleiades. 

A Greek legend tells us, that the Pleiades were 
once seven in number, and they were lovely earthly 
maidens; but one of them being beloved by an immor- 
tal, was placed in heaven, alone, and the other six had 
the charge of educating Bacchus, or some say Mars; 
and that Bacchus placed the other six, in gratitude, 
where they now appear. 



474 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



This fable is one proof, among many, of the eastern 
origin of Greek mythology. Kartikya is the god of 
war, and is the son of Mahadeva, without a mother; 
Bacchus was a great conqueror in India, and may be 
said to have been, in one respect, the son of Jupiter 
without a mother; at all events, Mars was the son of 
Juno without a father, a circumstance, in either case, 
worth notice. 

2. The Chawdra-ratana. 

When Vishnu descended in the form of a tortoise 
to churn the sea, there were fourteen articles obtained 
therefrom, and on these we shall comment in order: — 

1. The Amreet, amrit, or amrita, the beverage of 
immortality. This was by no means confined to India. 
The water of life, and the tree of life, spoken of in 
Scripture, were known by tradition before the Mosaic 
sera, and the knowledge of them was, therefore, dis- 
persed among all nations. The Chinese, as we have 
seen in our account of the sect Taou-tsee, boasted of 
a similar beverage, and more than one of their empe- 
rors were victims to the cheat. The apples of Iduna, 
in the system of the North, by which the gods renewed 
their youth, when they found themselves growing old ; 
the apples of the Hesperides, and the water of life in 
the Mohammedan writings, are all variations of the 
same tradition ; and of these, as well as of the amrita, 
the source is to be found in the records of the ante- 
diluvian patriarchs. 

2. The Moon, which is of course an object of vene- 
ration in every system, and here, as in that of the 
North, is ruled by a masculine spirit, Chandra. 

3. Beauty: this will of course coincide, in one 
respect, with Venus, Aphrodite, or Rhemba ; but it 
may be appropriately said in the abstract, to arise 
from the union of the informing Spirit with the yet 
chaotic mass of creation. 



MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES. 



473 



4. The tree Parayata. This tree had the wonderful 
quality of hearing every kind of fruit which might he 
desired, and it has hut one parallel, namely, that of 
the tree of life which adorns the Islam paradise: yet 
the ash Ydrasil, in the city of the gods, hears some- 
what of an analogy to it, and adds one more to the 
many coincidences which exist between the systems of 
the East and the North; hut these all had their origin 
in the trees of life and of knowledge, in the earthly 
paradise of Adam. 

5. The goddess of wine, or rather wine itself. 

6. Oochisrava, the eight-headed horse of the gods. 
Sleipner, the horse of the Northern gods, is represented 
with eight feet, and there are not wanting some of the 
scalds, who give him likewise eight heads. It is just 
possible, that this number eight, may have some refer- 
ence to the arkite traditions, particularly as it is told of 
a vehicle or conveyance for the gods. 

7- The cow Surabhi, from which is produced, as 
from the tree Parayata, every thing desired. This cow 
is shown, by the legends connected with her, to be the 
earth, as Prithu, her master, is the first man. And as 
the common mother of all beings, she strikingly agrees 
with the Northern cow, (Edumla, from whom sprang 
Bure, the father of Bore, and the grandfather of Odin, 
Yile, and Ye, by whom all things else were made. 
The man-bull of the Chaldaeans, bears an evident re- 
ference to the same period. 

8. The goddess Rhemba, the personification of grace 
and loveliness. To her, Venus arising from the sea 
in all the lustre of her beauty, affords a fit parallel. 
She is the same as the Freya of the Edda, who was 
the daughter of Niord, the ocean-king. Another 
coincidence is furnished by the government exerted 
by Freya over the moon. Now Aphrodite (Yenus) 
and Astarte, or Ashtaroth, were evidently the same; 



476 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



and Ashtaroth, therefore, will be made identical with 
Rhemba. 

9. Iravat, the elephant with three trunks, upon 
which Indra rides. This is no other than the clouds, 
and the elephant is fabled, therefore, to draw up the 
water, and so to cause water-spouts, — -to cast it down, 
and so to cause showers. Under this view, many 
similarities will occur to the mind of the inquirer, but 
which our limits will not allow us to pursue. 

10. The Physician, or god of physic. 

11. The jewel Kustubha, which in subsequent 
periods was celebrated as the ruby of Giamshid, the 
king of the genii, the signet-ring of Solomon, by 
which he held his power over spirits, and which was 
the arch-talisman in all legendary traditions. The 
tales of this jewel are rather to be sought in romance 
than in mythology, as are those of the two following. 

12. The bow Danusha, which never erred. This 
will recal to the classical reader the elegant fable of 
Cephalus and Procris, in which the unerring bow, pre- 
sented by the latter, won the love of Cephalus, who 
knew not his wife under her disguise, and which 
finally was the instrument of her death. The dog 
which also figures in the Greek fable, as one who never 
failed to secure his prey, has a place in a still later 
corruption of the tale, the legend of the fairy Manto, 
which is to be found in Ariosto. 

13. The Shell which conferred victory. This treasure, 
together with the former, seem to have some connexion 
with the arms of Thor, but the shell is certainly the 
original of those magic horns which proved so useful 
in the lays of minstrelsy and the tales of chivalry. 
Some of these would fill the enemies of him who 
bore it with terror; others would set them dancing; 
but in all cases, it had some supernatural power. 

14. The drug Bikh. Whether this be medicine, 



MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES. 477 

poison, a philtre, or poetry, seems in doubt; if the 
last, there is a curious tale told in the second part of 
theEdda, which maybe worth repeating. The god* of 
the North had formed a man, much in the same man- 
ner as the divinities of the Greeks formed Orion. 
This man was named Kuaser; he was a prophet, a 
philosopher, and a poet; but the dwarfs, envying his 
merits, slew him, and mixing his blood with honev, 
formed from it a liquor, which made all those who 
drank of it poets. These dwarfs being afterwards 
attacked by a giant, who demanded the blood of 
Kuaser, were obliged to resign the treasure, and the 
giant committed it to the keeping of his daughter 
Gunloda, and placed her with it in a cavern, closed 
round on all sides with rocks. Odin, taking the form 
of a worm, bored through the rocks, and assuming his 
own shape, presented himself before the astonished 
Gunloda. It was no difficult thing for the god to gain 
the love of the solitary maiden, and he soon persuaded 
her to let him drink three drops of the liquor entrusted 
to her charge. As soon, however, as he touched the 
vessel with his lips, he drew up all the contents, and 
then changing himself into an eagle, flew towards 
Asgard. The giant, who was a magician, soon per- 
ceived the theft, and flew in, a similar shape after the 
god. Odin, however, escaped with his prize, and threw 
up from his beak the poetic fluid. " This," says the 
Edda, " he bestows only on his favourites, and when 
others apply, he gives them as much as they want, but 
of a less pure fluid." 

3. The coincidence of Rama, Bacchus, and Moves. 

In extracting from M. Huet his proofs of the iden- 
tity of Bacchus and Moses, we shall merely state the 
arguments which he adduces, and leave them without 
comment. "Bacchus," says this eminent but fanciful 



478 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



scholar, in his Demonstration Evangelique, "and Moses, 
were both born in Egypt ; they were both cast into the 
river, both educated in Arabia, (that is, both resided a 
considerable time in that country,) both went to Mount 
Sinai, both were exiled; Bacchus was ever accompanied 
by a dog ; the companion of Moses was Caleb, which 
signifies a dog." "Therefore," says M. Huet, "the iden- 
tity of Bacchus and Moses is sufficiently proved." The 
Ramayana gives an account of the conquests of Rama, 
and incarnation of Yishnu, and the particulars of these 
conquests seem very much like those of Bacchus, as 
given in the Dionysiacs of Nonnus. Both of these 
were great conquerors, and the scene of their operations, 
in both cases, was India. Both had auxiliary armies 
of a very extraordinary character, the one of monkeys, 
led by Hanuman. the other of Satyrs, led by Pan. 
Now, the coincidence between Pan and Hanuman is 
singular ; both were heroes of nearly the same shape, 
both divine, and both musically inclined, and inventors 
of musical instruments. Now, from these coincidences, 
there seems some reason to think that the Indians have 
foisted into their mythology some of the exploits of 
Moses, and have considered him as an incarnation of 
Yishnu. An instance of very close agreement with a 
very remote superstition, is found in the names of 
Rama, and his wife Sita ; Rama, in his mortal charac- 
ter, is descended from the Sun, and the Incas of Peru, 
who boasted the same descent, called their chief fes- 
tival, Rama-Sitoa. The Egyptians had a festival of the 
same nature, in honour of the sun, which festivals they 
called Rayni and Situa. 

4. Identity of Ham, Pluto, Mahabeli and Duma. 

These personages have been all treated of in the 
former part of this work, and the identity of the three 
former spoken of somewhat at large. The history of 



MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES. 



479 



Duma, an angel of the Jewish scheme, is this : he was a 
prince of Egypt, just and beneficent, and so worshipped 
as a god. " So when God determined to punish the 
host of the high ones, and ordered Moses to proclaim 
his judgments against the gods of Egypt, Duma retired 
four hundred miles up the country; howbeit, the Lord 
said unto Duma, This have I resolved on, so Duma was 
deprived of his kingdom ; howbeit, the Lord made him 
the prince of hell." This is evidently only another 
version of the history of Mahabeli, as told in the Vama- 
navatara. 

5. The cause of Eclipses. 

In China, when the sun or moon is eclipsed, the 
people beat drums, and clash cymbals, and make many 
other species of noises, to frighten away the dragon 
which they think is then consuming the luminary. In 
the Edda occurs the following passage : — " ' But,' inter- 
rupted Gangler, ' the sun runs very swiftly, as though 
she were afraid some one would overtake her/ 6 So 
she well may/ replied Har, c for there are very near 
her two wolves, ready to devour her. One of them 
closely pursues the sun, who is afraid of him because 
he will one day swallow her up. The other, as eagerly 
follows the moon, and will make him, one day or other, 
undergo the same fate. Sometimes he swallows up 
the moon, and stains the heavens and the air with 
blood. Then the sun is also darkened/ " 

6. Vam pyres. 

The Eastern superstition of the vampyre, which 
comes and sucks the blood of mortals, is also to be 
found in the Edda. " This old sorceress is the mother 
of many giants, who are all shaped like savage beasts. 
From her also sprung these two wolves. One in par- 
ticular of that race is said to be the most formidable 



480 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



of all; he is called Managarmer, a monster that fattens 
himself with the substances of men that draw near 
their end." There does not appear to have existed 
among the votaries of this system, any fear of persons 
so dying becoming similar devourers themselves, as the 
victims of the vampyres were said to do, or any fear of 
lycanthropy. 

7. The Misletoe. 

This plant, which was considered sacred among the 
Celtic nations, was held in detestation by the Scandi- 
navians. The former thought it good against all 
diseases, repelling poisons, and curing ulcers ; on this 
account it was called among them, All Heal, and cut 
with many ceremonies. In the Edda, it is spoken of 
as a little insignificant shrub, and only remarkable for 
being an instrument of evil. Mallet thinks this a 
proof, that the Gothic and Celtic nations are the same; 
but the English translator of the Northern Antiquities 
considers it as a proof that they were not so observing ; 
" they, (the Gothic tribes,) in their incursions into the 
Celtic territories, had remarked the reverence paid to 
this plant, and their own modes of thinking and wor- 
shipping being so different, they therefore held it in 
contempt and abhorrence." 

8. Rest to the Damned. 

"There is rest to the damned on the Sabbath day," say 
the rabbinical doctors, and the Mohammedans suppose 
that there is one day in the year when they so rest, not 
every Sabbath (Friday). On the night following this 
day, the heavens are opened for one moment only, and 
all spirits behold the glory of the Lord. Men might 
also see it, did they know when to look ; and when 
any human being does obtain this beatific vision, he 
may pray for any thing that he wishes, with the full 



MISCELLANEOUS COINCIDENCES. 



assurance that his prayer shall he granted. A comical 
story is told on this suhject by an Indian writer — h«»u 
that a certain servant girl sedulously watched for this 
opportunity, determined to ask for a fine head of hair ; 
when at last, she saw the heavens opened, she asked 
for what she wanted in the idiom of her country, and 
her request was, " Lord ! make my head big." The 
prayer was granted in a literal sense, and her bead 
became so big, that it was found impossible to remove 
her from the room, so she died. 

9. The Metempsychosis. 

Among the Mohammedans, the doctrine of transmi- 
gration is not quite unknown; it was implanted in their 
system by Mohammed's Jewish adviser. They have a 
tradition of a mighty and holy prophet, whom they 
callKedher; they say that this spirit animated Phi- 
nehas, Elijah, and St. George, and that he shall come in 
the last days to preach the doctrines of Islam. 



CHAPTER XII. 

CONCLUSION. 

Keightley, at the commencement of his work on 
Greek and Roman mythology remarks, that the systems 
which have been most prevalent in modern times, in ex- 
plaining mythology, may be divided into three classes, 
viz. the Historic, the Philosophic, and the Religious. 

1. " The Historic, according to which all mythic 
persons were once real human beings, and the Legends 
are merely the actions of these persons poetically repre- 
sented. The chief maintainors of this hypothesis, are 
Bochart in his Canaan and Phaleg, and Bryant, in his 

2 i 



432 



ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 



Analogy of Pagan Mythology, who see in the Grecian 
mythi, the true history of the personages of Holy 
Scripture ; Rudbeck, in his Atalantica, who regards 
them as being drawn from the history of the north of 
Europe; and Banier, who sees in them the annals of 
Grecian and Egyptian affairs. 

2. u The Philosophic, which supposes mythology to 
be merely the poetic envelope of some branch of human 
science. This concealed wisdom is ethics, according to 
Natalis Comes; politics according to Lord Bacon; che- 
mistry according to Tollius, in his Fortuita Critica ; 
and, according to Dupius and his school, it is astro- 
nomy/ 5 Mr. Keightley might have added, that, accord- 
ing to Ashmole and his school, it is alchemy. 

3. 44 The Religious, which assigns mythology a higher 
rank, regarding it as the theology of polytheistic na- 
tions, and seeking to reduce it to harmony with the 
original monotheism of mankind. Vossius endeavours 
to show, that the fables of heathenism were only distor- 
tions of those revelations made to man by the true 
God." 

" Of these three classes, the last alone is peculiar to 
modern times. The two former theories were familiar 
to the ancients, but all are true to a certain extent. 
Some mythi are historical, some physical, some moral, 
some philosophical, some theological; but no one of 
them will account for the whole body of the mythology 
of any people. Some of them, too, apply to one sys- 
tem more than to another. The Scandinavian mytho- 
logy is of a more physical character than the Grecian, 
the Indian more metaphysical than either." 

There are many parts of the remarks on this 
topic purposely omitted, because, in attacking some of 
the errors of Creuzer and his followers, Mr. K. seems 
to attack their grand scheme, viz., that of proving the 
essential identity of all systems of mythology and cos- 



CONCLUSION. 



483 



mogony; of tracing their origin to the East, and of 
finding in their rites and ceremonies proofs of this 
origin. Yet he is himself an advocate, and ;i powerful 
one, for the truth of this hypothesis. lie observes, — 
"Man commencing -with the knowledge of one God, 
gradually hecame a polytheist, and philosophy, dowll 
retracing the steps of error, returned to the truth which 
had been lost." 

Philosophy, however, returned to the truth but par- 
tially; cosmogony, which in the beginning, so far ;is it 
was understood at all, must of necessity have been brae, 
soon became corrupted, and put on an appearance so 
absurd, that philosophy, for the most part, Hung tradi- 
tion aside altogether, and invented schemes apparently 
more rational, but containing still less of real truth than 
the legends she despised. 

Unfortunately for our knowledge of this interesting 
science, the greater part of our information has been 
obtained through the Greeks, a lively and imaginative 
people, whose own mythology w r as more than half com- 
posed of the fictions of their poets, and whose chief 
endeavour inwTiting about that of other nations seems 
to have been to Hellenize it as much as possible. So 
remarkable are these facts, that the system of their 
theogony was in a state of continual change. The 
deities of other lands were incorporated into it ; the 
deeds of foreign heroes attributed to their own; Greek 
legends invented to suit the attributes of imported 
deities, and finally the whole reduced to some sort of 
harmony. This was so managed as to give ample scope 
for the elevation of other beings to the divine rank, if 
such a course should be thought necessarv. 

The allegories of physical and metaphysical poets 
were admitted by the vulgar as truths, while die en- 
lightened deemed for the most part that the whole 
svstem was false. Hence there were but two daam 3 

2 i 2 -° 



I 

484 ORIGIN OF FALSE WORSHIP. 

of thinkers on mythology, viz., those who believed the 
whole, and those who gave credit to no part whatever. 
Hence was it that, from the time of Anaxagoras, the 
philosophic creed seems to have been a belief in the 
unity of God, and in some sort of cosmogony that suited 
the taste of the believer. 

We commenced this work with a few remarks as to 
the mode of investigating this vast mass of fable. We 
conclude by remarking, that it is only the student who 
examines the whole surface of the country, who can 
properly understand its bearings. He who examines 
the Greek or Roman system only, is like one who in- 
vestigates a small branch of a mighty river. That 
river as it rolls on from its source, may take its cha- 
racter from the countries through which it passes. One 
branch will be clear and beautiful, its banks crowned 
with verdure, and its bed glittering with gold and 
gems ; another will be dark and deep, winding through 
gloomy forests, and exhaling pestilential vapours ; here 
it will be a broad and mighty stream, there a babbling 
brook ; the traveller on the banks may see the pecu- 
liarities of that before him, but the geographer who 
surveys the whole land, marks their identity, and traces 
the various branches to the same source. That source, 
then, is the traditional knowledge derived from Adam 
through Noah, and increased as it descended by the 
revelations made to the patriarchs. Mankind corrupted 
it as it descended further and extended wider ; but 
whatever truth there is, or ever has been, in the world, 
connected with religion, we are indebted for it solely 
to the revelations of God. 

FINIS. 



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